Love Among Other Things
by Lil Leif
Summary: I guess I should start at the beginning of where this all began. I guess it's my fault really. I just HAD to get drunk at his club, pass out in his arms, and then wake up in his bed. Well you know what they say: Life is a b*tch because if it was easy it'd be a sl*t.
1. Wildcat

"Are you sure I look older than 18?" I asked Yuffie again as we waited in line to get into Wildcat, one of the clubs that Yuffie had, yet again, convinced me to come to. I ran my hand through my hair yet again in nervousness.

Yuffie grabbed my hand and forced it down to my side. Despite her small stature she had surprising strength. "Yes, now stop messing with your hair. It'll get greasy. And stop worrying about your age, just act natural and they'll let us in. The bouncer doesn't care. I come here all the time." She reassured me.

I sighed and attempted to slow my heartbeat by taking deep breaths. We neared the front of the line. The guy standing at the door was big, broad shouldered, bald and wore dark sunglasses that were impossible to see through.

We approached Sunglasses and Yuffie held out both of our fake IDs. "Ahh Yuffie. Here again? And you brought a friend? Just remember to stay away from the bar." He said with a small, knowing grin.

I started having a mini panic attack in my head, but Yuffie just smiled and said "We're just gonna get a little tipsy, Rude. I'm sure Reno will be keeping an eye on us. Don't be such a worrywart." She said with a laugh as he let us through.

Sunglasses -Rude- just shook his head at her.

I followed Yuffie as she walked down a long dimly lit hallway filled with smoke that made me cough. We reached the end of the hallway and she opened a door that I hadn't seen. More smoke poured out of the door and loud music greeted my ears. Bright lights periodically cut through the smoke.

Yuffie grabbed my hand and pulled me through the doorway. She skirted around the dance floor filled with sweaty gyrating bodies and made a beeline for the bar.

Luckily, there were two open stools right next to each other in front of the bar. Yuffie waved over the bartender who gave us a once-over. I noticed his eyes lingered on my chest, and I crossed my arms self-consciously. He smirked and then turned his attention to Yuffie.

"Two Stellas, please." She yelled into his ear. He took down two cups behind him and set them on the counter in front of him and filled them with beer. He scraped off a bit of the foam off the top and then set them in front of us. "Five bucks." He said.

"I'd like to start a tab." She replied. He only nodded.

"Kid, are you gonna make me pay that off for you again?" a voice said behind us.

We swiveled around. A guy with long spiky hair tied in a ponytail down his back stood there with a hand on his hip.

Yuffie nodded enthusiastically and smiled. "I expect you too. Reno, this is my friend Tifa. Why don't you show her around?"

He looked at me and held out his hand. "Reno." I took it and shook. "Tifa." I replied. "Come on. I'll show you the club." He said, and pulled me off my stool.

I glanced over at Yuffie who gave me a shooing motion. I turned to Reno.

"We'll start with this floor and make our way up. I'm gonna hold your hand to make sure nothing happens to you, sometimes this club can be a little wild." He said. I nodded and took his hand. I knew he was doing it just to make sure I stayed safe.

He pulled me through the crowds and near the back of the room. There were three elevators at the back stealthily disguised amid the curtained wall. I wouldn't have noticed them if he hadn't pointed them out to me. He pressed a button and the middle elevator instantly opened. We stepped inside and as soon as the doors shut all the sound was blocked.

"The club is soundproof so our offices upstairs aren't disturbed." He explained. Offices? What kind of offices are found above a club, I wondered.

Reno pressed the button that had a two on it and we ascended in silence. The elevator opened into a large room with a bunch of doors all over the walls. There were two dozen doors. Each of the doors had a number on it. 1-24.

"This is where our offices are. My office is number 3. Wanna see?" he asked me excitedly.

"Sure." I said. He led me over to it and opened the door. Inside was a small barren office with a desk, two chairs on either side of the desk and an Apple Laptop. Around the laptop was a mess of papers.

"Pretty boring, huh? I don't like it in there." He explained.

"I bet the club downstairs is much more exciting." I said.

He laughed. "Yeah."

He ushered me out of his office and closed the door behind him. "So what exactly do people do here in the offices?" I asked him curiously.

"We offer a variety of services from tech help to dating advice. You name it we probably offer it." He said, then added as an afterthought "Of course we don't deal in illegal dealings like drugs…"

"Uh huh…." I said.

He glanced over at me with a raised eyebrow. "I know you don't believe me but come on, I still need to show you the third floor."

He led me back over to the elevators and pressed the button. Again the elevator dinged pretty much instantly. We stepped inside and Reno pressed the button that said 3.

When the elevator opened I gasped and stepped out. Reno followed me and I caught him grinning out of the corner of my eye.

The room was entirely glass. You could see out to the city which had so many lights on that they all kinda blurred together when you tried to look closer.

"Pretty impressive, huh?" Reno asked me, when I finally managed to tear my eyes from the view.

The room was actually an office, but it was just as sparse as Reno's had been. Desk, two chairs, and an Apple laptop. That was it.

"This is the boss's office. Normally we don't usually bring people up here but I don't think he would mind this time…" Reno trailed off. I zoned him out at boss.

Outside, someone on a motorcycle was pulling around the side of the building. I could blond spikes and flashes of pale skin before he pulled into what must have been a garage in the building.

"Come on. You can come back another time and look at the view. I'll take you back to Yuffie." Reno said and pulled me by my wrist away from the window. I took one last longing glance out the window and then went with Reno to the elevator.

3 hours later….

"WHOOO!" I yelled as I finished my drink. I was more than a little tipsy. Yuffie was worse though. Even in my state I could tell that she wouldn't remember tonight.

She grabbed a random guy by the hand and pulled him out to the dance floor. I tried not trip over anything as I watched them dance.

"Would you like to dance?" a quiet voice asked in my ear, even over the music I could hear him. I looked over to see hotness incarnate standing by my side.

He was a couple of inches taller than me. His blonde spikes fell over his eyes and they looked super soft. My fingers twitched to brush them out of his eyes but I resisted. His body looked lean and hard underneath his black t-shirt and black jeans. His skin was pale and the way the light glinted off of it was almost eerie. He looked vaguely familiar but I quickly decided that there was no way I could have forgotten someone this hot and therefore I had never met him before.

I swallowed; my mouth suddenly dry. "Yeah." I must have said it too quietly because he frowned and leaned in. "Yes." I said louder.

He took my hand and took me onto the dance floor. I stumbled a few times but he quickly righted me.

When we reached the middle of the dance floor he put his hands on my hips and we started dancing. It was sloppy since I was drunk but I don't think he minded.

We danced for a long time. Or at least what seemed like a long time. By around the -what I think was the- tenth song I started feeling dizzy. I stopped dancing.

"Are you gonna be sick?" He asked me. I shook my head, but that made my stomach start churning really bad. I tried to swallow a few times but I felt like I couldn't breathe. Everyone felt suddenly too close and it was like there wasn't enough air for me to breathe.

Just as I fainted I wondered if I would ever find out more about my mysterious dancing partner.

**Whoo! That was soo much fun to write. I love Tifa and Cloud together. It is now 2:19 in the morning but I'm still really hyper so I think I'll start on the second chapter **


	2. Give Me My Bacon

I opened my eyes and then groaned as my head felt like it was being beaten in with a rock by a very mad elf. The little light that was getting in through the curtains was practically blinding me.

"I am never getting drunk again." I said to myself.

I looked around and realized I was in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. A _boy's _room. Oh God, did I?... I took inventory of my body but I didn't feel any different from what I usually felt so I figured I hadn't lost my V-card.

I looked under the covers and saw I was in a T-shirt and some sweatpants. My bra was still on.

I felt someone's leg brush against mine and looked over. I froze. Oh. My. God. Hotness incarnate was lying next to me in bed… asleep.

I studied his face. He was so cute while he slept. Like a little boy. As if he could feel the weight of my stare his brow scrunched and he frowned. I quickly looked away, but I kept glancing at him out of the corner of my eye.

I eased off the bed, careful not to wake him. I looked around for my clothes but couldn't find them so I quietly opened the door and slipped out.

I snuck down the hallway. I came to some stairs; I slipped down them and walked through what looked like a living room. I went down another hallway with a lot of rooms leading off from it. At the end of a hallway I could hear someone making noises. It sounded like pots and pans banging about.

I peeked around the corner. A tall guy with black hair and fair skin was cooking bacon on the stove. He hummed as he worked. He walked to a humongous fridge and pulled out a box of eggs. He set the eggs on the counter beside the stove and got another pan out of the cupboards.

The sense of recognition ran through me but I couldn't place him. I felt a thread of remembrance and tried to grasp onto it but it slipped away.

"You can come out now." He said. I jumped and the guy looked over his shoulder and smiled at me. His smile put me at ease and I stepped into the kitchen.

"Cloud told me what happened last night. Do you want an Advil?" he asked me, giving me a once over.

I hardly knew this guy but I already liked him. "Yes, please." I said. He left the stove and got a bottle of Advil out of a drawer. He got me a glass of water and set them on the counter.

I swallowed down a few Advil with the water.

"I'm making eggs which should help soak up the alcohol. Hangovers are no fun." He said, after a moment he added "I'm Zack by the way."

"Tifa." I replied.

"Ah! So you're the girl that Yuffie is always talking about. I finally get to meet you! You're practically famous in this house." He said with a laugh.

"Don't tell her that, Zack! She'll get a big head!" Yuffie scolded as she walked into the kitchen. She stifled a yawn with her hand and slouched onto a chair next to the kitchen table.

"Smells good." She said.

Zack just rolled his eyes, which I noticed were a startling sky blue.

"I didn't know you were such a party animal, Tifa. I can't believe you passed out in the club." Yuffie said.

I blushed. "You know I've hardly ever drank before. I can't help that I'm such a lightweight." I protested.

Yuffie just shook her head. "Ugh, at least you didn't throw up. That's the worst." She said in a disgusted voice.

I was saved from a reply by Zack who piled food onto a plate and handing it to me.

"For you." He said.

I smiled gratefully and accepted the plate. I brought it to the table and sat down.

"Hey! What about me?" Yuffie protested.

"You have legs, use em'." Zack said as he sat down across from me at the table.

Yuffie scowled but got up and served herself. I concentrated on eating all the food from my plate. I realized I was starving.

I only had one piece of delicious looking bacon left on my plate left, and just as I was about to reach out and pick it up a pale hand snaked out and grabbed it. I followed the arm up to the shoulders to look at the offending person who just. Stole. My. Bacon.

It was the blonde haired guy from last night. He popped the bacon in his mouth and chewed carefully. I stood up, my chair going backwards to make room for my legs. I noticed that Zack and Yuffie had stopped eating to watch what was about to happen.

"Get me a new piece of bacon." I said evenly.

"Why don't you get it yourself?" he asked me looking me dead in the eye.

I seethed. My hands clenched into fists and I restrained myself from punching him. Even though he was hot didn't mean that I couldn't beat him up.

"Because that was _my _bacon that you stole. You owe me. Get me a new piece of bacon." I replied.

The bastard almost looked bored. "Or what?" he asked me.

I punched him as hard as I could in the shoulder.

"What the hell?" he asked me, rubbing his shoulder. "That hurt!"

I ignored him and went over to the stove. There were three pieces of bacon left so I took them all. The idiot thinks he can take my bacon and get away with it? Well he's got another thing coming.

"Hey! That's my bacon!" he protested.

I popped a piece in my mouth. "So?" I asked him.

His eyes flashed.

"Uh, Tifa, you might want to give him the bacon." Zack warned me.

"Don't worry about her, Zack. She can handle herself." I heard Yuffie say just as Blondie launched himself at me.

Ok, it was a little unexpected, but my reflexes were great so I easily stepped to the side and dodged him.

He turned around and took a menacing step towards me. "Give me my bacon." He said dangerously.

"No." I replied. I really, really like bacon. And no one gets away with stealing it from me.

He took another step towards me. He kept doing this until I was forced to take a step backwards. I took one more step backwards and I bumped into the counter. He took a step closer until our bodies were flush against each other.

His hand closed around mine and wrenched the bacon from my grasp. He quickly shoved it all in his mouth in one quick motion.

He eyed me to see what I would do. "Bitch! I was gonna eat that!" I said. I slipped around him.

"Come on, Yuffie. Let's go." I said. I grabbed her arm and stalked out of the kitchen.

"Thanks for the food, Zack!" she called out as we left.

"Now, how do we get out of here?" I asked her almost desperately.

"This way." She said and walked away. I followed her into a garage. Her car was sitting there. We got inside and she got the keys out of the centre console.

She started the car and opened the garage door with a remote in her car. She drove down the long driveway and onto the street.

"You like him don't you?" she asked me glancing over.

I flushed. "No! He's annoying and arrogant and thinks he can take everything he wants!" I said.

"_Ok._" She said giving me a knowing smile. I just glared at her until she concentrated on the road again.

"Who does that girl think she is?" I shouted as I watched the car drive down the driveway.

"What kind of girl hits people? All I did was take a piece of bacon! Ugh! She's so cocky!" I ranted.

Zack let me get it all out before he attempted to say anything. "Maybe she just really likes bacon." He said quietly.

I instantly quieted. Usually whenever Zack said something in that tone of voice it was worth listening to.

"You've heard Yuffie talk about that girl. She's probably as hot-headed as you. And just as stubborn it looks like." He said. Just as he finished saying that his phone started ringing. He checked the caller ID and he got that silly smile on his face whenever he talked to Aerith.

"Hey, beautiful." He said. I made gagging noises to signal my disgust. He shoved my head and I laughed as he walked away from me. "…Be there in a minute…" I heard him say.

My thoughts wandered back to the girl. Tifa. From the moment I had seen her I had been entranced. Even when she was drunk she was still absolutely adorable. Wait. What am I saying? She stole my bacon. She needs to pay. I can't like the enemy.

I went up to my room and collapsed onto my bed. I inhaled deeply and I could smell her. She smelled sweet and flowery. It was intoxicating. I lifted myself off the bed and shook my head to get my mind off her. I got on my computer and surfed the Internet for a while. But… every so often my thoughts would wander to when I changed her into my clothes. Even though it had been dark in my room I had still been able to see fairly well… and boy did that girl have a body…

I shook my head to stop thinking about it and concentrated on replying to an important email.

**Ehhhh…. I didn't really like the way I ended that. It felt too rushed. But since it is 3:47 right now I'm gonna proofread and spell check and post. If you see any mistakes I might have missed feel free to point them out. **


	3. First Date

**No reviews yet… come on guys! I live for reviews! And sorry if the characters are a little OOC, I just have to do it this way because it works for the story.**

It had been a week since that night at Wildcat and no matter what I did I couldn't keep my mind off of the boy with blonde spikes. Sure, he was infuriating but he was so very intriguing. I managed to keep my thoughts somewhat occupied by working extra shifts at Seventh Heaven, a restaurant about a five minute walk from the apartment.

Saturday night, the night I had designated that I was going to be lazy, Aerith comes to my door and tells me to get dressed.

"What for? I thought I told you I wasn't doing anything tonight." I told her. I didn't want to go out and party tonight. I needed a break.

"You're going to meet Zack… and you're going on a double date with us." She said brightly.

"What? Aerith who is this time? You always set me up but they're always losers every time." I complained.

"This time will be different. I promise! He's a really cool guy and I just know you two will get along. Plus he's really cute." She added with a wink.

"Yes, because I should decide to date him just because he's cute. I like to take their personality into things too, Aerith." I said sarcastically.

"Please, Tifa? Just give him a chance." She begged me.

The only guy I wanted a chance with was Blondie… but…

I think Aerith could tell I was weakening because she said "Come on, Tifa. You'll finally get to meet Zack so you can stop complaining about not knowing him."

I sighed. "Fine, I'll go."

"Great! They're gonna be here in an hour!" she said happily and skipped off to get ready.

I groaned, but rolled out of bed and turned on my straightner before I went to my closet to pick out something to wear.

A little over an hour later Aerith waltzed into my bedroom. "They're here." She sang. I could practically see her radiating with joy.

I walked with her down to the front of the building. Two motorcycles were idling by the curb when we walked out. I grabbed her forearm and whispered "Am I going to have to get on that thing?"

"Yep, but don't worry I know Cloud would have brought a helmet for you. You'll be fine." She reassured me.

I felt my heart start beating a little faster but followed her over to the motorcycles. Two guys were leaning against them but their faces were shrouded in shadows.

"Zack!" Aerith cried and launched herself at one of them.

A chuckle sounded and then Zack said "Hello to you too." I froze at the familiar voice. Oh no.

I peered into the shadows and sure enough I could make out blonde spikes.

"Tifa." He said stepping away from his bike and into the light.

"Cloud." I replied. He looked a little surprised that I knew his name but didn't comment on it.

I crossed my arms over my chest and said "You know I still haven't forgiven you for stealing my bacon." A small smile played across his lips and he said "Well, I'm hoping I can make it up to you tonight."

I rolled my eyes but inside I was secretly cheering. _He's so hot_ I couldn't help but thinking. Ok, so I'd been begging for a second chance this whole week but I didn't think I'd actually get it.

I glanced over at Zack and Aerith and saw that they were already on Zack's bike. When I looked back Cloud was on his bike too. He shrugged off his jacket and then reached behind him for the extra helmet that was sitting on the back of the bike. He handed both to me and when I gave him a questioning look he said "It gets cold on the back of my bike." I was surprised by his sweet gesture, but decided to drop it.

After I put on his helmet and jacket, I carefully got on behind him, glad that I had decided to wear my skinny jeans instead of that mini skirt. I wrapped my arms around his midsection. I could feel how hard his body was beneath my hands and I had to stifle a sigh.

He started up the bike and I could feel it vibrating between my legs.

I hung on tighter and scooted closer to Cloud when he actually started driving the thing. I was so afraid that I was going to fall off. To reassure me, he reached back and caressed my knee for a moment and I relaxed a little.

We went to the other side of the city which took about half an hour. When we finally stopped it was in front of the aquarium of all places. Don't get me wrong. I love the aquarium but I had never been taken here for a date before.

When I got off the bike my legs felt like jelly and I almost fell. Luckily, Zack probably expected this and grabbed my upper arm to keep me from falling.

"Thanks." I said giving him a smile.

"No problem." He replied with a wide grin. He took Aerith's hand and they started walking to the entrance. I looked at Cloud who looked a little cold. I handed him his jacket and said "You can put your arm around me." he grinned and pulled me tight against his side. We walked to the entrance a few yards behind Aerith and Zack.

I wondered why the aquarium would be open at almost nine at night and decided to ask Cloud about it.

"Zack and I are good friends with the guy who owns it. He's really cool and always lets us in for free." Cloud explained.

When we got inside there was a guy in jeans and a white T-shirt. He was African-American and he gave both Zack and Cloud a hug.

"Guys! How you doing? And Aerith! I haven't seen you in a while. And who is this?" he asked Cloud while he gestured to me.

"This is Tifa, she's my date." He said.

"Ahh! Well, Tifa I'm Barrett Wallace and I'm the guy who runs this aquarium." the guy said and gave me a wink. I giggled and he let out a hearty laugh.

"It's nice to meet you." I said.

He nodded and then told us "Well I'll be going home now to little Marlene. Just tell the manager when you leave and he'll shut down the place."

He turned on his heel and left. After he was gone Zack looked at us and said "We're gonna go off on our own. We'll catch up with you guys later."

"Ok." Cloud said. Zack and Aerith walked off hand in hand towards the deep sea creature's exhibit. We decided to go to the freshwater fish.

Cloud and I walked through the exhibit occasionally mentioning something about the fish or joking about bacon or something like that. The conversation was easy between us and we often fell into comfortable silences that neither of us felt the need to fill.

When I saw the sign that pointed to the turtle exhibit I grabbed Cloud's hand and pulled him towards it as I exclaimed "I love turtles!"

Cloud followed me around the exhibit as I peered into the different windows. I looked over to find him watching me with a grin on his face. "What?" I asked him raising my eyebrows.

"You look like a little kid in a candy store." He said his grin widening.

"Is that a bad thing?" I asked him questioningly.

He shook his head. "No, in fact, I think it's actually kind of cute." He took a step closer and I felt myself blush. I looked away from him and saw the master turtle.

"Oh, oh, oh!" I said and ran over to the biggest exhibit out of the bunch. "It says that her name is Matilda and she's been alive for almost a hundred years." I said to him.

"Is that so?" he asked me, amused. He looked at the turtle I question for a moment and then said "It looks like Old Matilda here is hiding her age well."

I looked at him in shock for a moment and then started cracking up. It was so unexpected.

When I finally managed to calm myself we walked out of the turtle exhibit and that's when I realized that Cloud and I were still holding hands. I blushed and quickly dropped his hand like it had burned me. He didn't say anything; he just walked to the next room.

I felt a little bad because I really, genuinely liked Cloud but I didn't want him to think that I was easy or a slut or something terrible like that.

The exhibit that Cloud had walked into was dark and cool and little lights – that I soon realized were a part of the fish – bobbed inside the fish tanks. I was completely mesmerized. I was so entranced that I jumped when Cloud whispered beside me. "Let's go, Tifa."

"What? Why?" I asked him.

"Shh!" he said, and put his hand over my mouth. "Look in the corner." his mouth was so close to my ear that I could feel his warm breath against my skin.

I followed his directions and looked into the darkest corner. It was a little hard to tell but it looked like two people were making out. Then I saw the black spiky hair.

"_Oh._" I said loud enough for Cloud to hear but not loud enough for the couple in the corner to catch. He took his hand off my mouth and we quietly snuck away before they caught us.

We decided to go to the souvenir shop since that seemed to be the best place to avoid Zack and Aerith. When we were safely inside we looked at each other and started laughing. Cloud had a really nice laugh. I could have listened to it all day. It was quiet but completely sincere.

When we finally managed to stop laughing we started exploring the shop to see what it had to offer. My eyes were immediately drawn to the corner where a huge stuffed turtle was sitting.

Cloud noticed my staring until he saw what I was looking at and then said firmly "I'm getting it for you."

"You don't have to. It's ok. I don't need anything from here, Cloud." I told him. I always felt a little uncomfortable when guys offered to buy me something. I don't know why, maybe I was just unused to receiving gifts.

"You need something to remember our first date by." He insisted.

I crossed my arms and stared him down. "You make it sound like I've already agreed to more dates with you." I said jokingly. Cloud put on a mock shocked face. "Wait! You mean you haven't? I thought we were gonna get married soon. Well, damn."

I giggled. He put his arms around my waist and pulled me against him. "I'm still getting you that turtle." He said. I was momentarily distracted by the vibrations his voice caused. So when he let go I was a little dazed. He already had the turtle in his arms by the time I remembered what we were talking about.

He walked back over to the cash where I was standing and handed the oversized turtle to me. "What are you gonna name it?" he asked me curiously.

I ran my hand down its back and said "Hmm… how about… Matilda?"

He laughed. "That sounds perfect." He reached in his pocket and pulled out his wallet and put forty bucks on the counter, even though when I glanced at the price tag it said that the animal was only $29.95.

When he noticed my look he said "A little thanks to Barrett for letting us hang out here."

I instantly felt more attracted to Cloud. He was such a sweet, and thoughtful, and considerate guy, not to mention how hot he was. What girl wouldn't like him?

Cloud and I were just leaving the shop when Zack and Aerith rounded the corner.

I smirked. "Hey guys, did you have a nice night?" I asked them.

"Yeah, Zack, what was the flavour of Aerith's lip-gloss tonight?" Cloud teased.

Aerith blushed a bright red while Zack replied nonchalantly "Cherry, I think. You should wear it more often, babe. It tastes really good." He said, snagging Aerith around her waist, pulling her closer and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

Cloud and I just snickered.

After Zack ran up to the manager's office we went out to the parking lot. I wasn't really that nervous about riding with Cloud anymore. I realized that this was because I actually felt like I could trust Cloud.

When we reached the apartment, Cloud helped me off his bike like a perfect gentleman. "I have your clothes if you want them back." I told him.

He shook his head. "I have to go home and check on a few things. It gives me an excuse to come back though." He said, winking.

"Ok. Wait, can I see your phone?" I asked him. He dug it out of his very enticing jeans that made his legs look oh-so-sexy…

"Here." He said holding it out to me.

"What? Oh, thanks." I said. I took his phone and dialed my number. I felt my phone start to ring in my back pocket. I hung up on Cloud's phone and handed it back to him.

"There, now we both have each other's numbers." I said, smiling at him. He nodded and pocketed his phone.

I shivered a little from the cold. Noticing this, he pulled me into a hug and just held me for a few moments. He laid a gentle kiss against my forehead. A few moments later he left my arms, got on his bike, and drove away. I watched him go until I couldn't see his tail lights anymore and then I went inside.

When I got up to the apartment I was in such a dazed mood I didn't notice Yuffie's jumpy behavior. I was stuck in my own bubble and all I could think about was the way his lips had felt against my forehead and imagining them on my own.

I went to bed in an extremely happy mood, but at the back of my mind there was a dark part wondering just how long all of this could last. I quickly pushed that part away.

**I hope you like this story so far. I've been feeling really inspired lately **


	4. SOLDIER

**I would like to thank my reviewers for well, you know, reviewing. But I'd like to reply to Black Vinta (your PM is disabled otherwise I would have messaged you that way). **

**I don't write lemons. Sorry if you're disappointed but I don't really do that kind of thing. Anyyywaaaay I will try to churn out FIFTEEN more chapters. I'm not saying it'll happen but I'll definitely try! To be perfectly honest I'm not actually sure what's going to happen next. I guess whatever happens… happens. **

** So, on to chapter four! **

Since it was Sunday, I decided to sleep in. I mean like hard core sleeping in. I usually wake up at six for work… but I got up at 6:05. I'm bad. Just kidding. I slept in till about 9:30. Then Yuffie came in and woke me up. Her excuse was that she wanted to make sure I wasn't dead. She was probably just bored and wanted someone to talk to, seeing as Aerith hadn't come home last night. I wasn't too worried though. She was probably just sleeping over at Zack's house. Which reminded me…

Cloud. (Insert fan girl sigh here.) He was so dreamy. I could think about him all day and not get tired of it. But since I had actually had a social life I had to get dressed.

I looked around my room for something to wear and settled on some ripped blue skinny jeans and an old t-shirt from my high school that said Lakefield High School Tigers.

I walked out in one of the mismatched chairs at the kitchen table. Yuffie was sitting across from me with her laptop on, probably looking at gay porn or something.

"What are you working on?" I asked her.

"Oh, I'm just trying to find a free gay porn sight. All of these want my money!" she joked.

I shook my head in a mock scolding way. "Tsk, tsk, Yuffie. I thought you went to the therapist to get over your addiction! Do we need to send you back?"

She sighed. "It's just… it's so entertaining and it makes me so we-" she was interrupted by a knock on the door.

We looked at each other, and I silently asked her who it was. She shrugged and then pointed at me and then the door. Message received.

I got up and went to the door. I looked through the peephole before remembering that it had somehow been broken before we even moved in.

I opened the door, prepared to shut it quickly if I needed to.

"Cloud?" I asked when I saw who was standing there.

"Oh. Hey, Tifa. I didn't expect to find you here." He said nervously.

"I only live here." I replied sarcastically.

He blushed. He seemed really nervous about something. I saw him looking over my shoulder at something. I turned around and saw Yuffie mouthing something at Cloud. I glared at her. When she saw my glaring she cringed and waved goodbye to Cloud and then walked out of the kitchen. I turned back and looked at Cloud.

"Can we talk?" he asked me.

"Sure." I said, stepping out of the apartment and closing the door behind me.

"Um… I'm not really sure how to say this but Zack and I are going away for a while. I don't know when we'll be back, and I'm not sure how long we'll be there for." He said.

"So you're just leaving? What about Aerith? How does she feel about this?" I asked him. I was starting to get a little pissed.

"It's not like this is the first time we've done this. Aerith knows what it's like. Maybe you should talk to her about it." He paused for a moment and then said "I know this seems sudden, and I'm really sorry about that but… will you wait for me?"

I thought about it. This guy, who I'd just met, who was already leaving me for who knows where. But… I felt so drawn to him, how could I not say yes, I would wait for him?

"I'll wait for you… but you have to write to me. Every chance you get. Or call. It doesn't matter." I told him. "Promise me." I added on.

He looked me straight in the eyes and whispered "I promise."

I nodded my head once before I threw myself into his arms and held him tight.

"Just when we were getting close too…" I muttered to myself. Cloud must have heard me because he chuckled. I could feel it vibrate through his chest and into my cheek, which was laying on it.

We held each other for a little while before he pulled away. "I have to go. Our flight leaves at three."

"Ok. I'll walk with you to your bike." I told him. I held his hand as we walked down the stairs to the front lobby. We walked out side into the chilly air and I shivered.

His black bike gleamed in the sunlight. Zack pulled up with Aerith on the back of his bike. I watched her get off his bike and take off her helmet. I could immediately tell she was crying.

Zack opened his arms and she ran into them.

I turned away, I felt like I was intruding on something very intimate. Cloud and I locked eyes and I found I couldn't look away. His blue eyes seemed to be burning. I didn't seem to have a will of my own as I moved forward. We got closer and closer until we were right in front of each other. He lowered his head and our lips met.

It was desperate, and harsh, and it spoke of a million goodbyes, but it was also oh-so-sweet.

When we broke away we were both gasping for breath.

"If I knew how good kissing you was going to be I would have kissed you that first night at Wildcat." He said breathlessly.

I gave a weak laugh, but I felt my eyes well with tears. One slipped out and trickled down my cheek. He wiped it away with his thumb and pulled me in for a hug again. He held me as I buried my head into his chest and cried softly.

When I managed to compose myself, Cloud kissed me quickly once more and then got on his bike. He pulled on his helmet. He must have remembered something because he reached into his backpack that was sitting behind him. He dug around until he found what he was looking for. He pulled it out and handed it to me. It was a sealed envelope. I felt the heavy parchment paper on my fingers. This was the expensive stuff.

I looked up as the motorcycle roared to life. Cloud blew me a kiss and I caught it and put it in my pocket to save for later. I blew him a kiss back and he caught it and put it on his heart. I laughed.

Aerith and I watched as they drove away from us. I wanted to run after Cloud and tell him to come back or at least take me with him, but I knew that I could never catch up with them now.

"It gets harder every time to watch him go. I always can't help but think 'what if this is the last time I'll see him?' 'What if he doesn't come back?'" Aerith said.

I whipped my head around and looked at her. "What do you mean? What are they going to do?"

"They're being deployed. They're the best of the best. Wildcat is just a base for them where the higher-ups can reach them. They go out on missions for SOLDIER and sometimes they just barely make it home." Aerith said dully.

I was horrified. Barely come back alive? Does that mean that Cloud could be… killed? I shook my head. Anyone as strong as Cloud couldn't possibly be killed. But SOLDIER… those were hardcore people. I didn't even know that they had people here. We were so far from the capitol. The capitol was where SOLDIER was supposed to be situated.

"Cloud and Zack moved here to try and get away from SOLDIER, but somehow they found them and threatened to kill them and everyone they loved if they didn't cooperate. So, every so often they have to go on missions for SOLDIER." Aerith explained.

I was shell-shocked. Who could have imagined Zack and Cloud were SOLDIER operatives? They were so gentle, kind, and sweet. SOLDER operatives were supposed to be harsh, mean, killing machines.

"You look like you're about to pass out, Tifa. Let's go up to the apartment and talk about this. I'll even make you some hot chocolate." She said gently.

I did feel a little light-headed and dizzy.

"Ok…" I said quietly. I suddenly felt very detached from the world. I could see myself and Aerith standing near each other, and then I collapsed. I was brought back into my body with a snap. My eyes slid shut to Aerith's face hovering over my own.

When I came to I just lied there for a few minutes reliving what had happened. I longed for it not to be true and for Cloud to knock on the door and sweep me off my feet but I knew that wouldn't happen.

I reached up to brush some hair out of my face and I realized I was still holding the letter he had given me. I looked at it for a moment before I turned it over and opened it.

I pulled out the piece of paper inside and just looked at the writing. I didn't read it yet, I just looked at the boyish scrawl on the paper. When I was ready to read I concentrated on each word before I went to the next.

_Tifa, _

_ We just met a few days ago but I already feel like we have this connection. I can't explain it. If I could I would stay with you always._

_ I'm sure Aerith has already explained to you about SOLDIER and my involvement with it. I'm not like the others. Their only purpose is to kill. I'm not like that. The higher-ups only give Zack and me infiltration missions these days. We are good at what we do and we are paid well. That's how Zack and I were able to buy Wildcat. _

_ We don't get sent on missions that often, maybe once or twice a year. There is no telling how long this one will last. I can't explain it to you either, otherwise that could put you in more danger than you are already in. _

_ I'm sorry that I can't be a normal guy for you. I want to be the man you want me to be. I want to be your everything. When I get back I want to try to have a normal life with you despite SOLDIER. _

_ Yours, _

_ Cloud_

I wiped my hands under my eyes to get rid of the stray tears that had accumulated there. I wanted him to be my everything too. I sat up and realized that I was on the couch in our living room.

I got up and rummaged around for a pen and some paper. When I finally located them I sat back down and put the piece of paper on the coffee table that was next to the couch.

I tapped the pen against my chin as I thought about what I wanted to say. I had so many unspoken words in side me that I was hard to sort them all out into something comprehensible.

When I finally managed to get my thoughts organized I put my pen against the paper and began to write. I poured it all out, pausing at some places to think about what I wanted to write about again, and scribbling out whole sentences because they didn't sound right. Finally though, I had managed to write down everything. Of course, I had had to start over a few times because it sounded too corny or just outright stupid but eventually I managed to write something I was pleased with.

I looked it over once more to make sure it was what I wanted before I sealed it in the envelope.

_Cloud,_

_When Aerith told me that you were a part of SOLDIER, I didn't believe her, but the look in her eye told me that she was completely sincere. I didn't know what to think at first. I thought about SOLDIER's reputation and how you are the complete opposite from what everybody says that SOLDIER operatives are supposed to be. I can't imagine you as a heartless killing machine. _

_That said, I want you to do everything in your power to come back to me safe and sound. I want you back in my arms… soon. Please, please, please take care of yourself and be safe. _

_Aerith told me how SOLDIER threatened you and Zack, but don't worry about me too much because I can handle myself. I used to take karate lessons and I'm still pretty good at it. I can defend myself should anything happen. _

_So, while you're infiltrating whatever I'll think about ideas for dates we can go on when you get back SAFE AND SOUND. _

_ I want you to be mine. Maybe not my everything but at least mine. I want to spend a lot more time with you so don't go off and get yourself killed or I'll kick your ass with my karate skills. _

_ Yours, _

_ Tifa_

I thought it was a pretty good letter; just the right amount of seriousness and humor. I found an envelope in a drawer in the kitchen. I neatly folded the piece of paper I had written on and gently slid it into the envelope. I sealed it and turned it over to write Cloud's name on the front. I wrote his first name, and then I realized that I didn't know his last name. I furrowed my brow, trying to remember if anyone had ever mentioned it to me. If they had I certainly didn't remember.

Fortunately Yuffie wandered through the kitchen just then. "Yuffie, what's Cloud's last name?" I asked her.

"Oh good; you're up. Um, Strife, I think." She said.

"Are you sure? I asked her. She thought about it for a moment before she replied "Yeah, I'm positive."

I carefully printed Strife on the envelope and then stood up.

"I'm going out, I'll be back later." I told her.

Yuffie just nodded as her mouth was full because she had just taken a huge bite out of the muffin she was holding in her hand.

Before I left I grabbed a jacket out of my room and then left the apartment. I headed in the direction of the subway. While I walked I tried to remember the way to Wildcat.

When I reached the subway station I was pretty sure that I remembered how to get to Wildcat. I put my ticket in the slot and walked through that weird thing that spins around. I took my ticket back when I got to the other side.

As I waited for the subway to arrive I thought about when Cloud and I had kissed. It was so desperate at the time but it also had an underlying feel of sweetness that made me tingle all over. I was suddenly desperate to kiss Cloud again.

I sighed with longing as the subway arrived. I stepped on, along with about fifteen other people.

No one talked to each other and the only sound was the subway traveling along the rails, the screamo music that a teenage boy was listening to not far away from me, and the occasional rustle of paper as an old man turned the page in his newspaper.

My thoughts again wondered to Cloud. The shape of his eyebrows, the slope of his nose, the way his mouth would tilt up in a small smile whenever I did something that amused him.

I almost missed my stop I was so entranced in my thoughts. I was the only one who got off. I made my way back up to street level and walked down the sidewalk. I was getting more into the outskirts of town. There were a lot of warehouses down this way. Up ahead I could see the building that housed Wildcat.

It was starting to get a little colder now. I hurried my footsteps to get to the Wildcat faster.

Suddenly I felt my arm being grabbed and I was pulled into an alley between two empty warehouses. I tried to bring my other arm up but that was grabbed and pinned painfully behind my back.

"So you're Cloud's new sweetheart, huh? He hasn't had a feisty one in a while." A scratchy voice said into my ear.

"What do you want with me?" I asked him.

"You're coming with me to see the boss. He's verrrry interested in you. He wants to see what lucky girl has managed to catch Cloud's eye." The guy started dragging me down the alleyway, away from Wildcat.

I knew if I went with this guy a lot of bad things could happen so I started wiggling and squirming wildly. There was no way in hell I was going with this guy.

The guy in question tried to keep his grip on me but I managed to break free. I stumbled away from him and started running towards the end of the alley. Maybe I could circle around to Wildcat.

Just as I was about to step out onto the open street something ran into my back and went sprawling. My head cracked against the concrete and suddenly I had to work to see clearly.

I saw someone crouch in front of me and cover my mouth and nose with a cloth. A sickly sweet smell invaded my mouth and nose and I tried to get away but it seemed like my limbs all weighed a thousand pounds each.

The second to last thought I had before I blacked out was that maybe I couldn't protect myself after all. My last thought was that this was the second time I had passed out today. Then I closed my eyes and embraced the darkness.

**Oh shit! Tifa just got taken out! What could possibly happen to her next? Will the boss of SOLDIER let her go? Who exactly was the guy that attacked her? I guess we'll just have to find out… **


	5. Three Months

**I couldn't resist the pull for long. I have all these ideas swimming around in my head about what I wanted to do for this chapter so I just had to write! Anyway thank you to all my awesome reviewers. It's nice to hear your appreciation for this story. Keep it up! **

I logged onto Skype and kept it open as I opened up an internet page and started surfing. I was on for maybe an hour before Skype started telling me I was getting a call from someone. I looked at the username: CLOUD.

I let myself smile and then accepted the call.

"Hey, Tifa!" Zack said when I answered.

"Hey, Zack. I'll go get Aerith real quick." I told him. He nodded and I got off my chair and ran through the apartment looking for Aerith.

"Aerith! Zack and Cloud are on Skype! Come on! Let's go talk to them!" I called out. I couldn't find her. In fact I couldn't find Yuffie either.

Frowning, I went back to the computer. "I couldn't find her she must have gone out." I could see Zack's face fall. "Oh." He said sadly.

Suddenly Cloud appeared beside him and I smiled widely. "Hey, baby. I miss you so much. I can't wait to see you tomorrow. I'm gonna sweep you up in my arms an-" he was cut off by Zack yelling "Cloud get down!"

I saw Cloud's eyes widen in terror and he quickly ducked. But not quick enough. I could hear gunfire and blood splattered onto the camera. I screamed but covered my mouth and watched in horror. A pair of soldiers pushed Zack to his feet and one yanked his head back by his hair and slowly slit his throat. Two others came over near the desk that the computer was resting on. They nudged something that was out of sight of the camera. A groan could be heard.

One of the soldiers shot whatever was on the ground- which I knew was Cloud I was just avoiding admitting it- while the other looked at the computer.

"Hello, Little Mouse." The soldier said to me in a strange mechanical voice. I could only whimper in reply.

The soldier started removing his helmet and when he pulled it off blonde spikes bounced out. I stared in horror at the man in the computer screen. "I'll find you someday, little mouse." He promised.

I sat up so fast I almost gave my neck whiplash if that's even possible. My heart was beating wildly and my breathing was fast and erratic.

"So you've finally woken up? And it appears to be from a nightmare to. That's harsh." A voice said. I looked around.

I was sitting on a rather uncomfortable, but stylish couch in a large office. There was a huge desk in front of the couch and behind it was a chair. It was turned backwards so I couldn't see who was sitting in. They were presumably looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the impressive view over the city.

Whoever was in the chair swiveled around. I almost expected him to be bald and stroking a fluffy kitty that was on his lap. Unfortunately that wasn't what he looked like or what he was holding.

"Where's your cat?" I asked him sarcastically.

The man in the chair scowled. "I detest animals." He said.

"Why am I here?" I asked him standing up. I felt so out of control here. I didn't even know where 'here' was.

"You're very important to Cloud." Was all he said.

I crossed my arms and glared at him. "That doesn't exactly tell me much. So what if Cloud likes me? Why should his love life matter to you at all?"

"It matters because it's a way to control him. Everyone has something they love and if you can't have power over them you can threaten to take away what they love and thus have control over the person. This is why you are important. Before you, we were afraid Cloud would leave us but now that we have you…" the man said.

I looked at him closely. He had short blonde hair and eyes that reminded me of shark eyes. They were flat and dead and seemed to show no feeling at all.

"If you think you can control me you've got another thing coming." I told him.

The man sighed, as if dealing with me was tiring him out. "Why must all women be difficult?" he asked no one in particular.

I was sorely tempted to jump across the desk and punch him in the face but I resisted… barely.

"Why is Cloud so important?" I asked him.

"Ahh, now we are finally getting to the important things. Cloud is a very important asset to this company. He has a high success rate during missions. The highest actually. He has only failed one mission and that was when it was choosing between that Zack Fair boy and the mission." This guy was seriously getting on my nerves. The way he talked about Cloud, like he was some valuable pet or something pissed me off to no end.

"You look like you could be valuable to Shinra. The man I sent to detain you told me he experienced… difficulties. Would you like a future in this company?" he asked me.

I looked into his cold shark eyes and decided that any future involving this guy would only bring tons of trouble.

"I have a job. A good job. I don't need another one." I told him. I didn't want there to be any miscommunication between us. In fact, there was no way in hell that I would ever want to work for this guy.

"I could make it worth your while. You would have such a good salary you could never really want for anything else ever again." He said.

Ugh, every word this guy said just made my skin crawl. He was such a creepy person.

"I really like the way I'm living now, and I don't need any more money. I appreciate the offer but I can't accept it." I told him. Maybe if I was polite he would let me go quicker.

He started laughing then. It started out low and quiet and then quickly escalated into a loud and obnoxious laugh. If I wanted to be cliché I could say that his laugh really sounded like an evil, mad scientist's laughter. It was legit.

When he finished there was an awkward silence. We both looked at each other, waiting for the other to say something. Finally, I opened my mouth and said "Wow, that was pretty impressive." What can I say? I don't like awkward moments.

The guy just scowled. What a sourpuss. He seems like a total party pooper. I bet he doesn't even get invited to the office parties.

"You think you're funny, don't you? Well, Ms. Lockhart I don't appreciate your humor. My men will take you home, but trust me, this isn't the last time we'll be seeing each other." He said with a small smile, like he was already looking forward to seeing me again. I had to work to hide my shudder.

All of a sudden an arm came into my vision and put me in a headlock. Then someone else came and covered my nose and mouth with a sweet smelling rag. Was this going to happen every time this guy wanted to see me?

I could see black spots starting to take over my vision. They grew bigger and bigger until my whole vision was black. I stopped struggling and slumped in the guy's headlock.

I was cold. Really, really cold. Where was I that could be this cold? I searched my brain for answers but came up with none. In fact, all the answers I could really come up with was that my head was pounding like… well it was pounding so hard I couldn't even come up with a good comparison.

I opened my eyes or at least I tried to but it seemed like they were glued together with that weird sleep shit that gets around your eyes. I rubbed my eyes and managed to open them a little.

I glanced around and saw with surprise that I was in that large office above Wildcat.

Why was I here? I remember walking to the Wildcat to deliver a letter for Cloud and then… something happened. Something dangerous that scared me. I vaguely remembered a fight and running, being caught and then… nothing.

It was like there was a huge gaping hole in my mind where there had once been memories. What was going on?

I sat up and realized I was on the desk. I rubbed my arms for some warmth. I noticed my breath fogging out in front of me. Was it really that cold in here? I was able to recall when I had been on my way here earlier it had gotten quite cold… but now I didn't have a jacket and it was dark outside. It felt like they didn't have any heat on in this building.

I got off the desk gingerly since my head was still pounding and made my way carefully to the door in the dark.

I tried the button for the elevator but it didn't light up. I pressed it a few more times to see if it would light up, my desperation growing every time it didn't light up. Getting frustrated, I punched the button but all that did was crack the plastic.

I stomped back over to the desk and tried to open one of the drawers. Locked. Well we'll have to see about that. I yanked on the drawer as hard as I could and the lock broke. I pulled the drawer out of the desk completely and started looking through it. It was mostly just memos from the offices downstairs. There was a few bills here and there but mostly it was just boring stuff. I moved onto the next drawer.

This one was filled with office supplies. Maybe if I got bored I could throw the pencils at the window.

The next drawer had printer paper and college ruled paper.

The last and biggest drawer held files of some kind. I took one out and found that it was employee files. Boring. Suddenly I saw something glinting on the bottom of the drawer. I reached down to see what it was and my knuckles accidentally tapped the bottom of the drawer. A hollow sounding knock resounded.

Why did it sound hollow? Was it possible that there was a false bottom? I quickly dumped out all the files and looked at the bottom. After careful inspection I could see that there was a little handle that could be pulled out. I pulled on the handle and the false bottom popped out.

What I saw on the bottom of the box surprised me. There were at least 2 dozen passports. There was one from the U.S., Canada, France, Mexico, Brazil, Great Britain, and so many more places. They all had Cloud's picture in them but there were so many names Tim Moore, Alex Brown, Brandon Case, Max Martin, and so on. There were so many names.

Suddenly a thought hit me. If this drawer had a false bottom did that mean that the other drawers had false bottoms too? Only one way to find out.

I pulled the other drawers to me and dumped everything out on the floor. I tapped on the bottom of all the drawers and all of them sounded hollow.

The one that had had office supplies in it had different kinds of money. There was at least 10,000 U.S. dollars in that drawer along with all the other currency in there.

In the drawer with the printer paper there were knives and underneath of those were three guns. I'm not a gun expert but I could tell all of them had silencers attached to them.

The one with the memos and bills had files in it. I pulled one out. It was labeled M1: Retrieve the Treasure. Inside was a brief description of a mission about retrieving some stolen treasure that bandits had stolen off of a Shinra truck. Underneath of that was a mission report. I recognized Cloud's handwriting.

_Retrieved the treasure. Bandits neutralized. Returned treasure to Shinra. _

It had been dated about three years ago. On top of the paper someone had stamped SUCCESSFUL in red ink.

The next folder was about being a bodyguard for a VIP traveling through the city. There were a lot of folders in the drawer. Each of them only held about one or two pieces of paper. I looked through all of them. They got progressively harder as they went on, more and more complicated and risky. I finally reached the last one. I looked at the date. It was the same day that Cloud and I had met. Had he just gotten back that night? I looked through the mission details. He had to break into a top secret building and kidnap the leader. Then he was supposed to bring him unharmed to the Shinra building. If possible he was supposed to go undetected. I looked at his report.

_Managed to break in undetected. Zack took out the leader's guards while I took on the leader. Managed to incapacitate leader. Zack needed help. Fought off guards. Zack severely injured. Had to decide who to take. Took Zack and chained leader to a pipe. Was going to go back for him as soon as I got Zack to a safe place. On my way to the nearby town, the building blew up. Took Zack to safe place. Went back to the building and found leader's remains in ruins. _

Something tickled in the back of my mind. A memory?

"**He has a high success rate during missions. The highest actually. He has only failed one mission and that was when it was choosing between that Zack Fair boy and the mission."**

Who had said that? I struggled to remember, but it was like the more I tried to remember the less I could actually think about what I was trying to remember. Soon, even that little snippet of conversation was.

I was so frustrated that I couldn't remember. I was so tired of not remembering. I suddenly, desperately longed for Cloud. He would help me through this. He would help me figure this out. Even just to hear his voice would calm me down. I patted down my pockets and found my phone.

I dialed looked up Cloud in my contacts and dialed his number. After it rang ten times I lost count of the rings. It seemed to ring for at least five more minutes and then voicemail picked up. _"This is Cloud's phone. Sorry I couldn't answer. Leave your name and number and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can." _

Hearing his voice even a recording felt like it was breaking my heart.

"Cloud." My voice broke on his name and I realized I was crying. I tried again. "Cloud. I miss you so much. Please come back to me. I need you. There so much stuff going on and I need your help to figure it out. Please come home." I hung up and just completely broke down. I leaned against the desk and brought my knees up to my chin and wrapped my arms around my legs.

I was so overcome with missing Cloud. I was really worried about him too. All of his missions sounded so dangerous. What if he got hurt? I don't know what I'd do.

Suddenly my phone started ringing again. I looked at the caller ID. Cloud. My heart filled with happiness.

"Cloud." I answered through my tears.

"Tifa. Tifa is it really you this time? Where are you, baby? Tell me where you are and I'll come pick you up." He said frantically.

"I'm at Wildcat. In your office. It's so cold here. I'm so cold." I said suddenly realizing how cold I was. I was shaking really bad.

"I'll be there soon." He said. "I'll come save you." Then he hung up.

I put the phone beside me. I stared at it. I was surprised it hadn't occurred to me earlier to call someone and tell them to come get me.

I don't know how long I waited but I was getting colder and colder. My toes felt like they were going to fall off.

Then the elevator dinged. I heard the doors open. "Tifa? Tifa! Where are you?" I heard Cloud shout.

"Cloud." I said. I could barely hear myself. My voice was just a whisper. I tried to be a little louder this time. "Cloud. I'm here."

I heard him walk closer and then he came around the desk.

"Oh, baby." He said. He knelt in front of me and pulled me to him. I started to sob into his chest. I had missed him so much even though he was gone for like a day.

"I missed you so much." I managed to say.

He pulled away from me. "Where have you been?" he asked me.

"What do you mean? You left yesterday. YOU were the one that was gone." I said to him.

"Tifa." There was a look on his face that told me I was about to hear something I wasn't going to like. "You've been missing for three months. The only time anyone heard from you was when you left voicemails for me and it sounded like you were being tortured. You would cry out my name and it almost broke my heart." He gripped my upper arms and looked at me in the eye. "Where have you been?" he asked me with a slight shake.

I felt my eyes go wide and I shook my head. "I-I don't know. Today, I was going to Wildcat to deliver a letter to you and… and something happened. I got in a fight and… I got taken away… I think… and something happened and then I woke up here."

Cloud reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. I could tell it had been folded and unfolded many times because of how wrinkled it was. "Is this the letter?" he asked me, unfolding the piece of paper and handing it to me.

It only took a glance but I knew immediately it was the letter. I nodded my head.

Cloud looked conflicted, like he wanted to ask more questions but he wanted to go somewhere else. He gave me an once-over and then said "Let's go. I'll take you somewhere safe."

He helped me stand up and when he saw me shivering he took off his jacket and gave it to me. Underneath of it he had on a black long sleeved thermal shirt and some black jeans. I put his jacket on and I could feel that it was warm from his body heat.

Cloud took my hand and led me carefully through the mess I had made and to the elevator. We stepped onto it and he pressed 1.

I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on his chest. "I…" I trailed off. I didn't really know what to say.

"You don't have to say anything. I'll take you to my house and we'll fix you up." He told me.

"Ok." I said. The elevator came to a stop and he led me through the empty club to outside. By the curb was a red Mustang. He held open the door for me and helped me inside the car. Then he rushed over to the driver's side and got in.

He turned up the heat when we had been on the road for a few minutes, and I put my fingers up to the air vents. It went a long way to make me warmer.

By the time we had reached his house my shivering had stopped and I didn't feel like I was going to have a breakdown.

It seemed like no one was home, which was just as well I supposed, I didn't want to be bombarded with questions I couldn't answer.

Cloud led me to his bedroom where he gave me some sweatpants and soft t-shirt. He turned around and I took off his jacket. I hadn't realized before but I wasn't wearing the clothes that I had worn this morning… or three months ago I supposed. I had on a long-sleeved white shirt, with a pair of unassuming jeans that wear a little too big for me. I took off the jeans - I wasn't going to call them mine because they definitely _weren't_ – and put on the sweatpants. I took off the shirt next and gasped when I saw my bare arms. There were bruises all over them.

Cloud, having heard my gasp, rushed over to me. His face grew hard when he saw my arms. "If I ever find out who did this to you, I'm going to kill them." He said seriously as he examined the bruises. He looked confused for a moment and then cleared his face of all emotion.

He looked up and our eyes met. His face softened and he drew me closer. His head slowly came down and our lips met. My eyes slid shut. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself flush with his body. I opened my mouth and he slid his tongue in.

He took a step back and I followed him. We collapsed onto the bed. He was lying underneath me. I shivered when I felt his warm fingers against the bare skin of my lower back. I pushed my fingers through his spikes and was amazed at how soft they were.

His fingers trailed up my back lightly until he reached my shoulder blades. He pressed down gently and I felt pain so intense I almost blacked out.

I pulled away from him. "Did I hurt you? I'm so sorry, Tifa. I didn't mean to go that fast." Cloud said.

"It's not you. When you pressed down on my back it hurt. I might have a bruise or something there." I explained.

"Turn around." He told me. I got off of him and sat down with my back to him beside him. I could hear him sit up. He moved my hair out of the way. He trailed his fingers across the width of my back.

"Nothing feels out of the ordinary." He said. "Does this hurt?" he asked me as he pressed down gently.

I shook my head, and he continued doing it until he reached the same spot on my left shoulder blade.

"Ouch." I said. He quickly pulled his hand away, but leaned closer to see what was wrong with it.

"It looks like you have a humongous bruise right there. It's like solid black. It'll take a few weeks to heal up." He said.

I looked over my shoulder at him. "Ok." I said easily. I was just so happy that I was with him again.

I leaned over and picked up the shirt from where I'd dropped it on the floor. I pulled it on. Cloud got off the bed and pulled off his shirt to reveal the hottest set of abs I'd ever seen. Then he wriggled out of his jeans so sexily I almost vaulted off the bed and made out with him. He had on a pair of light blue plaid boxers from American Eagle. He pulled on some pajama pants that were lying on a chair and then came over to the bed.

He crawled over me and pulled me down to lie next to him. I scooted closer until I was half lying on him and half not lying on him. I rested my head on his chest and listened to his heart beating.

"What day is today?" I asked him.

"It's December 15." He answered me.

"I can't believe I don't remember three months of my life. What have I been doing?" I wondered.

"Let's talk about this tomorrow with the others. Maybe we can figure something out then. But for now, let's sleep. All this excitement has made me exhausted." He said.

"Ok." I said. With his arms around me, it was easy to feel safe, like nothing bad was going to happen to me since Cloud was here to protect me.

I fell asleep feeling like all was right with the world. Well, ALMOST right… if only I could remember the last three months….

**That was a tough chapter to write! Man, I'm so exhausted. Coming up with all these ideas and trying to write them out into something that makes sense is really tiring. **

**So I've decided instead of PMing you guys I'm going to reply to your reviews on here. Here we go:**

** Black Vinta: I disabled anonymous reviews like you told me to. I actually hadn't realized that it wasn't enabled… The gay porn thing was just a joke. People make jokes like that all the time here and nobody really thinks anything of it. But if you ARE caught watching it (or any kind of porn really) you get into trouble. Its not really something people are proud of doing. Gay porn isn't my thing either. That whole yaio or whatever the hell it's called just is a huge turn off. Gross. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and leave me a wonderful reply like you've been doing. **

** Faebsel: I'm glad that you're enjoying my story so far. I love Zack and Cloud and so yeah, of course I'm going to describe them in a way in which they're hot haha. **

** Thanks for all the reviews. I really appreciate them. I'll try to update again soon but next week I have finals ALL week and then it's Christmas break so I'll definitely have time to write then. Ciao! **


	6. I Will Follow You Into The Dark

** This has had to be the longest week of my life. With my finals, Christmas break so close yet so far away, and this chapter weighing on my mind it has felt like forever. **

**Ok, onto review replies:**

**Shivana: I hate finals. I get really stressed and I space out during tests and my mind completely goes blank. I don't have anything wrong with me I just get nervous during tests. It sucks. And I don't want to write a timeline because I'll start to feel hemmed in by it and I'll get frustrated. It's like if I write it down I HAVE to commit to it and I don't really like that feeling. :/ So yeah, no timeline lol. **

**Faebsel: Everyone uses "cute" to describe. I guess I kind of fit the word. I'm glad you still like my story even after the twist I threw in there. **

**Alrighty then. Now that that has been taken care of onto the chapter! Also I don't own _I will follow you into the dark _by Death Cab for Cutie or Final Fantasy 7 I guess. (I'm bad at disclaimers.)**

Something was going on. I was surrounded by liquid. It was an ugly greenish- yellow colour. Shouldn't I be drowning? No, there was a mask over my face that was feeding me oxygen. It reminded me of a bug sucking out my life force or something. I could see that I was in some kind of tube or capsule or something. There was glass in front of me and I could see through the liquid that there were people walking around. Why weren't they trying to get me out? 

I tried beating on the glass to get there attention but my hands felt like they weighed ten million pounds. I concentrated as hard as I could and lifted my hand up and managed to brush the glass. 

"She's awake!" I heard someone exclaim.

"Impossible! That oxygen is drugged. She shouldn't have woken up for another few hours, and even then she would have barely been conscious."

"Put her back to sleep. She can't be conscious in that liquid. It's dangerous to her." An authoritative voice said. I saw figures come closer and fiddle with my cage and then the oxygen coming to me tasted slightly different. I knew they were drugging it with something new now. I tried thrashing but I was so, so weak. The gas was taking effect and I was slipping out of this world. My eyes shut even though I was feeling so very panicked, but then I realized that all that mattered was sleep. I gave into darkness. 

I woke up alone. The space beside me was cold. Cloud must have gotten up a while ago. I stretched and my fingers touched a piece of paper. I felt my brow wrinkle as I held it up in front of me.

_I woke up early and figured you could use the sleep. _

_ Cloud_

I put the piece of paper down and got out of the bed. I stretched and heard my back pop a few times. I left Cloud's room and went in the direction towards the kitchen. I finally found it after five minutes of searching.

Sitting by the oven was a plate of bacon. It was a little cold but I figured it would still be ok to eat. It wouldn't be the first time I had eaten it cold. It was bacon; no matter what you did with it, it was always delicious.

_Love of mine some day you will die  
>But I'll be close behind<em>

_I'll follow you into the dark_

I heard someone sing. It was so sad and melancholy, but it still seemed to hold a little hope. I started to follow the voice.

_No blinding light or tunnels to gates of white  
>Just our hands clasped so tight<br>Waiting for the hint of a spark  
>If Heaven and Hell decide<br>That they both are satisfied  
>Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs<em>

Whoever was singing was really, really good. Their voice spoke to me in a way no other voice had. It called to me and led me down a hallway I'd never been down before. The piano accompanying the song was just right.

As I got farther and farther down the hall I could see a door coming up that the music seemed to be emanating out of.

_If there's no one beside you  
>When your soul embarks<br>Then I'll follow you into the dark_

I stood on the threshold and looked into the room. There was no furniture besides a huge, black grand piano. A man sat on the bench in front of the piano. He was the one this sad, sad song was coming from.

_In Catholic school as vicious as Roman rule  
>I got my knuckles bruised by a lady in black<br>And I held my tongue as she told me  
>"Son fear is the heart of love"<br>So I never went back_

_If Heaven and Hell decide  
>That they both are satisfied<br>Illuminate the NOs on their vacancy signs_

I realized that the person playing had blonde spikes. Cloud. Who knew he could play piano and sing? It made him that much more attractive to me.

_If there's no one beside you  
>When your soul embarks<br>Then I'll follow you into the dark_

His song was so beautiful. Silent tears streaked down my face.

_You and me have seen everything to see  
>From Bangkok to Calgary<br>And the soles of your shoes are all worn down  
>The time for sleep is now<br>It's nothing to cry about  
>'cause we'll hold each other soon<br>In the blackest of rooms_

He seemed so far away. Lost in a place I could never hope to reach. A place filled with sadness and misery but also just a little bit of hope.

The song seemed to talk about someone he lost. Someone he could follow only in death. He was willing to die for his love. He was willing to die just for the chance to hold her and be with her.

_If Heaven and Hell decide  
>That they both are satisfied<br>Illuminate the No's on their vacancy signs_

I was losing control. I was outright crying now. These tears were anything but silent. I slid down and sat on the floor with my back against the door way.

_If there's no one beside you  
>When your soul embarks<br>Then I'll follow you into the dark  
>Then I'll follow you into the dark <em>

I vaguely realized he had stopped playing. I heard him get up walk over to me. He knelt in front of me.

"That was so… beautiful." I said, trying to stop crying.

Cloud smiled a little and wiped away a few of my tears. "It couldn't have been that good if you're crying."

I laughed weakly. "I didn't know you could sing… or play." I told him.

"I've been playing since I was really young. My mom taught me how. Those are my favourite memories of her. Us, sitting at our old piano playing together." He shrugged. "She died when I was ten. I kept playing after she died. It made me feel closer to her. Like in those moments when I play she's still here, watching over me. I'm not that good at singing. I have no one else to sing for me though."

"I'm sorry about your mom." I told him cupping his cheek with my hand.

"It's ok. It happened a long time ago." He replied.

"Where did you get the inspiration for that song?" I asked him curiously.

"You… while you were missing. I didn't think you were dead… I just was inspired." He said not looking me directly in the eyes.

"Oh…" I said. What else could I say to that?

Cloud stood up and offered me his hand. I took it and we walked hand in hand back to the kitchen.

Cloud got me a plate of food at sat with me at the table while I ate. He claimed that he'd already eaten and wasn't hungry.

Just as I finished, Yuffie, Aerith and Zack all came crashing in through the door.

"TIFA!" Yuffie screamed and launched herself at me. I laughed as she wrapped her arms around me. "Where. Have. You. Been? Do you know how worried we all were?" she scolded me.

Aerith pushed Yuffie out of the way and hugged me close. "I'm so glad you're ok. I knew you would be, but that still didn't stop me from worrying." She said when she pulled away.

Zack was next. He squeezed me. "You made us all worry. What happened to you anyway?"

Everyone was looking at me so expectantly but I could think of nothing that would offer any type of answer to Zack's question.

A flash of my dream from earlier came to me but I was still trying to figure that one out for myself so I didn't mention it.

"I'm sorry guys. I really don't remember anything. I'm as frustrated as you. It kills me not being able to remember." I said.

Cloud rubbed my back and said "We're all just glad you're back. Who else would help Aerith keep Yuffie in line?" Everyone laughed and some of the seriousness left.

"We need to do something to celebrate Tifa's homecoming. Let's go shopping!" she exclaimed.

"Ugh, no more shopping, Yuffie. I don't know how you and Tifa manage to shop for hours on end but that is not for me. I'm sure the boys don't want to be dragged around either. Let's do something else." Aerith groaned.

Everyone thought for a moment and then Zack said "Since it's Tifa we're celebrating about why don't we let her decide?"

"That's a good idea, baby." Aerith said giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

They looked at me expectantly but I just shrugged. "I really don't care what we do. I just want to spend time with everyone."

"We could go to the park and have a snowball fight and then afterwards we could come back here and have hot chocolate and watch a movie. If it gets too late everyone can sleep over." Cloud suggested.

"That sounds like lots of fun!" I said happily.

On the drive to his house last night I hadn't noticed any snow on the ground but as I glanced out one of the windows that were scattered about in the kitchen I saw that there was a heavy layer of snow, at least a foot of it.

I wondered what day it was. It had been September when I had been taken and if what Cloud had told me was true and I'd been missing for three months then that meant it was December. I hoped I hadn't missed Christmas.

With the game plan figured out we decided that Cloud and Zack would stay at the house while Aerith, Yuffie and I would go back to the apartment and get dressed into winter gear. Then we would meet the boys at the park in half an hour.

Cloud gave me a quick good-bye kiss and then we left. It was only a ten minute drive from his house to the apartment. I eagerly looked out the window at the passing scenery. It must still be before Christmas because all the town's decorations were still up and they usually took those down right after Christmas Day.

We reached the apartment and I hopped out of the car. The cold air bit into my skin but I was too happy to really care.

Aerith and Yuffie followed me into the building as I ran inside. I skipped up the stairs occasionally calling to them to hurry up. When I reached our apartment door, I reached into my pocket to pull out my key but my pocket was empty. I frowned and felt all my pockets looking for it. It wasn't in any of them.

Aerith and Yuffie arrived. "What's wrong?" Aerith asked me, sensing my distress.

"I lost my key. What if whoever took me… has it? They could break in!" I said, worrying that something bad would happen to my friends because of me.

"We can change the locks Tifa. We'll even add more to make you feel safe." She assured me. She didn't look all that worried.

Yuffie, meanwhile, had already opened the door and gone into the apartment. I walked inside in a daze. It was completely different. They had fixed it up. The walls were now a blue-gray. There were a few new pieces of furniture, such as a white leather couch and a glass-topped coffee table. I walked through the apartment admiring the new décor.

I came to my room. The door was closed and when I tried to open it, it stuck a little like it hadn't been opened in a while.

A musty smell hit me and I wrinkled my nose. There was dust. On everything. The floor, my bed, my dresser, on top of my clothes that were piled on my chair, it was all over everything. Nothing had gone untouched by the dust. I coughed a little as some of the dust got into my throat. I guess I'd be cleaning when I got home.

I rummaged through one of my drawers and came up with a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. I went into the bathroom and changed in there. I had some dust in my hair and I shook it out.

I noticed my jeans were a little loose, like I had lost weight while I'd been… gone. My shirt also hung a little loosely off of me. What were those people doing to me while they had me?

I exited the bathroom and went into the kitchen. "Here you go!" Yuffie said throwing something at my head. I caught it before it hit me in the face and realized it was a parka. It was a light blue colour that looked kick-ass with my hair.

"Thanks." I said to her. I had realized that none of my jackets would be heavy enough for this weather.

"Are we almost ready to go?" Aerith asked, entering the room. She was wearing blue skinny jeans with a light pink parka unzipped to show a white thermal shirt on underneath.

"Hells yeah! I'm ready to kick some ass!" Yuffie cheered. Yuffie was wearing tight black skinny jeans that made her butt look pretty awesome. It was so awesome you couldn't help but notice. She had a black parka that matched the ones Aerith and I wore and underneath I could see a black shirt that said something about underground kings.

We walked out of the apartment with Yuffie babbling about how she was going to destroy all of us. Aerith drove us to the park. Somehow she managed to find a parking spot next to the boys' bikes.

Zack had apparently told her where to meet them because she knew exactly where to go, or maybe they had just done this before. We walked for maybe five minutes before we reached a large clearing. The snow had barely been touched except for a few footprints the boys had caused but other than that the snow was perfect.

The boys were standing in the middle of the clearing talking about something. There was someone else with them, but I couldn't quite see what they looked like. We walked towards them.

"Hey girls!" Zack called seeing us first. The other two turned around. Cloud smiled at me.

"Hey, Vincent. I'm surprised Cloud managed to convince you to come. Of course now we're even." Aerith said.

Vincent had black jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt. He wore black boots that looked pretty tough. He was wearing a red… honestly the only term for it was cloak. The bottom was all ripped and torn and it looked really beaten up. He also had long, black hair that looked softer than mine. His skin was really pale and his eyes were black. He might sound like he looked silly but in reality he was… scary.

"You must be Tifa." He said looking at me. "I don't blame you for going away for three months. I mean, every time I see Cloud's face I want to do the exact same thing." He said with a grin. I decided that he couldn't be so bad. "I'm Vincent."

"Nice to meet you." I said, grinning back.

"Alright, alright. How are we going to play the first game? Boys vs. girls? Teams? Every one for themselves?" Zack asked us.

"Let's play boys vs. girls first then a free-for- all and then we can do teams." Yuffie suggested. Everyone nodded their agreement.

"Now the rules for this game are simple." Cloud started.

"We know how to have a snowball fight, Cloud." Yuffie whined. I could see she was eager to begin.

"Yeah, but Tifa and Vincent have never played with us before. Now, you can only have snow in your snowball; nothing else. No headshots. And… that's pretty much it." He said.

"Good. Now let's start." Vincent said. He looked calm but I could hear a trace of enthusiasm in his voice.

The girls went to one side of the field and the boys to the other. Cloud had drawn a deep line in the snow to mark the boundary between the two teams.

"On your mark." Cloud shouted. "Get set!... GO!"

Everyone dropped to their knees and started putting a snowball together. I managed to get a medium sized ball together. I saw Cloud still kneeling in the snow so I threw it at him. At the last moment he looked up and when he saw my snowball coming straight for him he rolled to the left. My snowball hit the ground.

I frowned but then had to dodge several snowballs that he was throwing in retaliation. How did he make them so fast?

I scooped some snow up and as I dodged the snow thrown at me I crushed the snow together and made a small, but hard snowball.  
>I saw Zack was distracted trying to hit Aerith so I threw it at him. It hit him on his arm and I saw him wince.<p>

"Gotcha Zack!" I taunted. He stuck his tongue out at me. While I was distracted Cloud and Vincent launched and attack against me. I saw the snowballs coming for me out of the corner of my eye and I dodged to the left. Except Cloud, having anticipated this, threw another snowball at me. I twisted and managed to get beneath the ball. In doing so, I lost my balance. I landed flat on my ass. I scrambled to my feet and looked at Cloud and Vincent. They were staring open-mouthed at me. All of a sudden they were both hit square on the chest by two snowballs that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Yeah!" I heard Yuffie and Aerith cheering off to my right. They came over to me and we high-fived. Talk about girl power!

The boys didn't look too upset about their loss to us. "Ok, we get it. Females are obviously the superior gender now let's do the free-for- all." Zack said after we had bragged for at least five minutes.

This time there was no boundaries. We all stood in a circle around the clearing. Zack was to my left and Yuffie was to my right. I wasn't too worried about Zack but Yuffie was looking at me like she was about to take me down.

"…GO!" Cloud yelled. I had been lost in my thoughts but now I jumped into action and scooped up some snow. I easily dodged a snowball that Zack threw at me. I saw him run off somewhere, and decided to concentrate on Yuffie who seemed like an immediate threat.

She had thrown a ball at me but it fell apart before it reached me. I launched a snowball at her that hit her right in the middle of her chest. I silently thanked my parents for getting me into baseball.

I looked around for someone to target and saw Vincent across the way. He saw me watching him and smirked. I bent down and picked up some snow. He did the same. We started walking forwards towards the middle of the field.

All of a sudden I was rammed from the side and I flew to the ground with someone landing on top of me.

"Ow." I groaned.

"Hey baby." Someone said above me.

"You would. That hurt by the way." I said to him. I couldn't help but smile though.

"Mm. I just couldn't resist." He said leaning down. Our lips met and his were surprisingly warm. I'm sure mine were ice cold but he didn't seem to mind.

All of a sudden I felt cold wetness hit the hand that I had braided into Cloud's hair.

"I win." A voice said above me. I broke off the kiss with Cloud and looked up. Vincent was standing over us.

"I guess so." I replied cheekily.

He rolled his eyes and walked away shaking his head. I laughed at him then I pushed Cloud off of me and stood up. I gave Cloud a quick kiss. Then I punched him on the shoulder. "Asshole." I said.

He laughed. "Aw babe, don't be mad!" he said coming after me. He grabbed my hand with his and kissed my fingers. "How can you be mad at this face?" he asked, giving me puppy dog eyes.

I laughed. "You're right. You're much too cute to be mad at." He grinned and kissed my fingers again.

I gently pulled my hand away and walked over to the group that had formed. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Well Aerith had the brilliant idea that we should have people we're not usually partners with." Zack said. I could hear the sarcasm in his voice and had to stifle a giggle at his obvious displeasure.

"That sounds like a great idea, Aerith." I complimented her. She smiled at me.

"So who are the partners going to be?" I asked her.

"Well I was thinking Zack and Yuffie, Cloud and I, and you and Vincent." She said. "Sounds like a good idea. I'm sure Vincent and I will sweep up." I said with a grin in his direction.

We split off into our groups and talked for a few minutes about strategy.

"Ok, we both have a pretty good arm so we can take turns throwing. One of us will make snowballs for a little bit and the other will throw then we'll trade off." Vincent said.

"How about we just watch each other's backs and make our snowballs?" I said. He smirked. "If you want to."

"Ok. But if I tell you to duck, _duck_. I'm not going to lose my partner because he was too stubborn to listen to me." I told him.

He smirked. "I think you should worry about yourself. You don't exactly seem like you'd give up very easily."

I rolled my eyes. "Like you're any different."

"Are we ready over there?" Zack called out to us.

"We were born ready!" I called back.

We got into position and Cloud called out GO! again. The other two teams decided to gang up on us and take us out. I wasn't sure whether to be flattered that they thought it would take more manpower to defeat us or insulted because they actually thought they would still win even if they cheated.

A barrage of snowballs came our way and Vincent and I leapt different directions. I scooped up some snow as I stood up and quickly took out Aerith with a snowball to the thigh as she advanced towards me.

A snowball whizzed by my head and I saw that Cloud was the one who had thrown it. I grinned at him as we both bent down to pick up snow. He could make the snowball faster than I could but his aim was a little off and it flew right past me.

I threw my completed ball at him and he tried to dodge it but it hit his arm. He groaned and walked away.

"DUCK!" I heard Vincent call. I dropped to the ground as a snowball went flying over my head. I heard it connect and looked over my shoulder. Yuffie had snuck behind me and was going to play dirty but Vincent had seen her and taken her out.

His saving me had cost him though and Zack managed to hit him with his snowball.

It was just Zack and I now. He dodged every ball I threw at him and vice versa.

I came up with a game plan and made two snowballs. I threw the first in the direction of his chest. He instinctively ducked and by that time I had thrown the second snowball towards his lower body. It hit him on the shin and exploded all over his jeans.

"YES! I won!" I yelled. I was so happy. My adrenalin was coursing through me and I looked around. I saw Cloud and ran up to him. I threw my arms around his neck and he caught me.

I hugged him to me and I felt him squeeze me back. I pulled away and went up to Vincent. "Yeah! Since I won, you won too. Don't you feel awesome?" I asked him.

He nodded. "We're a pretty good team." He said with a small smile.

"Thanks for saving me by the way. That was pretty epic." I told him.

"No problem… although I'm surprised you listened to me." he said.

I smirked. "Hey, whatever it takes to win." He laughed at that.

Cloud came up behind me then and put his arms around my waist. I put my hands on top of his and he threaded our fingers together.

"Hey, Vince, do you want to come back to my house and watch a movie with us?" Cloud asked him.

He thought about it. He looked unsure. "Come on Vincent! You should come! We need to celebrate our victory together!" I said enthusiastically.

He hesitated and then said "Ok…"

We all started walking towards the parking lot then. Zack and Aerith walked hand-in-hand and so did Cloud and I.

I had had a pretty awesome day. It was probably close to five now and the sky was already getting dark.

When we reached the parking lot I decided to ride with Cloud to his house. Aerith looked like she wanted to ride with Zack but she said she didn't trust Yuffie alone with the car. Everyone laughed at that. We all went our separate ways.

Vincent had parked near the guys. He too had a motorcycle. Was that just the vehicle of choice for guys these days?

I got put on my helmet and then got on behind Cloud. I wrapped my arms around his middle. He started up the bike and drove off behind Zack and Vincent with Aerith and Yuffie in the car behind us.

It took us about ten minutes to get to Cloud's house. We decided to have dinner before we watched the movie. Zack and Aerith worked together and made fettuccine alfredo. It was really, really good. I got the sauce all over my face though which was kind of embarrassing. I think Cloud thought it was cute. He looked absolutely adorable with the cheese sauce smeared over his face. He looked like a little kid. I kissed him a lot during dinner.

Cloud had a home theatre in his basement so we headed down there after dinner so we would have a good place to watch our movie.

Since Vincent and I won the team competition we got to pick out the movie. We managed to pick out two movies that we liked and then argued about it for at least five minutes.

"Dude, The Proposal is way better than Fast Five. You can't deny that!" I said.

"The Proposal is such a chick flick. I don't want to throw up during the movie." He replied.

"But it's a romantic _comedy_. It's funny too. Everyone would rather watch comedy than action _any _day." I said.

Vincent looked like he couldn't come up with a good comeback.

"The Proposal it is." Zack said finally.

We put in the movie and everyone got comfortable on the couches and chairs. Zack and Aerith cuddled on a loveseat, while Yuffie sat in a La-Z-Boy. Cloud and I snuggled together on the couch. Ok, I was practically sitting on his lap but it was cold in his basement. Because of this fact, everyone had blankets over top of them. Vincent sat at the other end of the couch. He had taken off his red cloak and looked completely relaxed.

Three movies later everyone was asleep except for me it seemed. We had started The Proposal at around six thirty, and then moved onto Fast Five and Eagle Eye. It was now around 12:45. Cloud had been the first to fall asleep at around 10:30. Then Zack, Aerith, Yuffie and… was Vincent asleep?

"_Vincent!_" I hissed.

"What?" he asked me.

"Just checking to see if you're still awake." I replied.

"What movie do you want to watch now?" he asked me.

I got up and stretched. Cloud hadn't stirred once, so I figured he was a pretty heavy sleeper. I walked around a bit to stretch my legs.

"Let's go somewhere." I said, surprising myself. I could tell I had surprised Vincent to because he said "What?"

"I don't want to watch anymore movies. Let's go out and do something." I explained.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked me curiously.

I shrugged. "Do you know any good places?" I asked him.

He thought about it for a moment and then said "Yeah. I think I do. Come on. Let's go."

We walked upstairs to where our shoes and coats were. I pulled on my slightly damp boots and my blue parka.

I saw Vincent was already ready. "Ready?" he asked me.

"Yeah." I replied and followed him out into the cold night.

** Holy geez… 10 pages. I think that's a record… for me at least. So anyway sorry that it has taken longer than usual but I kind of just wanted to chill since it's my Christmas break… no pun intended haha. **

** So anyway I hope you enjoyed my chapter and its epic long-ness. If I can't update again before Christmas: **

**Merry Christmas! **

**Or if you don't celebrate Christmas:**

**Happy Holidays!**

** For your guys' presents you get virtual kisses from moi! **

** Until next time! **

** -MG**


	7. The Forgotten City

** A lot of your reviews are really curious about where Vincent is taking Tifa. ;) I could make a dirty joke about how he's taking her to bed… but well I guess I just did… haha yeah… that was pretty lame. Anyway onto the chapter that I hope you all enjoy! **

Vincent didn't tell me where he was taking me he just drove through the city.

His bike was a little smaller than Cloud's and this resulted in me being pressed right up against him. I couldn't help but appreciate the hardness of Vincent's body. I mean, jeez, were all these guys ripped? I knew Cloud was and I'm pretty sure Zack was too. You could just tell that he didn't have any flab under those shirts of his. And Vincent… he had the same hardness about him as those two did.

This made it official I was surrounded by male models. My dreams come true. But seriously, I'm surprised they _weren't _models. They would get paid big bucks.

I shook my head to get those thoughts out of my mind. Picturing the three of them posing in American Eagle boxers or Calvin Klein underwear… well it didn't help with keeping my composure.

Vincent pulled into a gas station and I almost laughed. He got off the bike and took off his helmet. I took off my helmet too, but I stayed seated on the bike.

"_This _is your special place?" I asked him.

"No. I'm running low on gas and where we're going is a little ways out and I don't want to have to call for a tow truck or something like that." he said.

"Oh. So where are you taking me?" I asked curiously.

He paid for gas and then put the nozzle in the little hole. _That's what she said. _He hesitated and then said "It's called the Forgotten City."

"I've never heard of it." I informed him.

He smiled. "Well that would explain the forgotten part. Don't you think?"

"That was so funny I almost forgot to laugh." I retorted.

"Well why don't you laugh now?" he asked me, meeting my eyes.

I rolled mine and heard him chuckle. What an ass.

He finished filling up the gas tank and then got back on the bike. We put our helmets on and then we roared away again.

It would've been chilly on the back of the bike but since I had my parka on and the whole front of my body was pressed against his back I was quite warm. Vincent was like a furnace. I could feel the heat of him even through my jacket.

After about fifteen minutes we were out of the city and going along roads that weren't paved. Five minutes later we entered a forest white bright white trees. The moon was out and the way the moonlight hit the trees it made them look like they were glowing. It was actually pretty bright out here considering that it was very late at night – or early in the morning – and the only light to guide us was the moon and the headlight attached to the front of Vincent's bike.

Vincent drove for a few more minutes before he stopped. He got off the bike and then he helped me off.

"Why, thank you, kind sir." I said with a grin.

"You're very welcome, my lady." He said sarcastically. I stuck my tongue out at him.

I finally took a look at my surroundings and felt my breath get taken away. It was so beautiful. Vincent had parked next to a luminescent lake that sparkled in the moonlight. It was really clear too and I could see almost to the bottom despite the poor lighting.

Even though it was winter, no snow seemed to have fallen here and the lake didn't even have an ice covering it. There was, however, a little bit of frost here and there where the trees weren't so thickly pressed together.

Vincent spread a blanket out on the bank of the lake and sat down on it. I sat down beside him and we stared out at the lake for a few minutes before either of us spoke.

"Do you-" I started.

"Have you- " He said at the same time. Both of us stopped and looked at each other. Finally he said "You go first."

"Do you have many friends, Vincent? I'm not trying to be rude, but you seem like the type to keep to yourself." I finally said after a moment of hesitation.

He laughed. "Leave it to you to ask the hard questions." He said.

"Hey, I never said I was going to go easy on you." I teased.

We both laughed a little, but then we got serious again.

"You're right. I usually _do _keep to myself. When I was little my parents divorced and then my mom put me up for adoption. In the foster homes, none of the parents were doing it because it was the right thing to do they were doing it because of the money. I was nothing to them. Early on I learned not to depend on anyone for anything. I guess I kind of shut out the world. When I was eighteen I got out of there as fast as I could. I lived on the streets for a while and then got recruited into SOLDIER, which is where I met Cloud and Zack." He said. He looked like he regretted telling me so much.

"How old are you now?" I asked curiously.

"Twenty-three." He replied.

"If you don't let anyone in… why are you talking to me right now?" I asked him.

He looked over at me and studied me for a few moments. "You're different. You seem… honest in a way that most people aren't anymore. You're not afraid to speak what's on my mind and ask the tough questions." He gave a wry smile at that.

"Well I'm not afraid to say things that most people are too scared to say. I remember this one time where a guy asked me out and I replied no. He asked me why not and I calmly told him that I wasn't one of his whores and that he was a complete asshole and I refused to play his game." I said.

Vincent burst out laughing and then when he had composed himself said "That was a little harsh."

I shrugged. "It's not like he didn't deserve it. I despised the guy. He was such a sleaze bag. No way was I ever going to be with _him_."

Vincent shook his head. "What?" I asked him.

"You don't hold anything back, do you?" he asked me.

"If you haven't figured that out by now you need to get yourself checked out." I said.

He lay back on the blanket, stretching out. "Trust me; the ladies do that every day." He gave me an over exaggerated wink, and then closed his eyes.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't be too flirtatious with me; one of your stalkers could be out here watching us. _Right. Now._" I leaned over him and opened my eyes wide.

"Vince…" I said in a creepy voice. His eyes flicked open.

"Ahh!" he said scrambling away from me.

I burst into laughter and collapsed onto the blanket. He came back over beside me and lightly punched me on the shoulder.

"You know you're not supposed to hit ladies." I told him once I managed to stop laughing.

"I don't know why you're bringing women into this conversation when you don't even qualify as one." He said with a completely straight face.

I stared him straight in the eye. "Well at least I have a penis."

His eyes grew really big and wide and he opened his mouth to say something but all that came out was a choked sound. I started cracking up again at his reaction. I had to wipe away tears I was laughing so hard.

Vincent even joined me in my laughter after a bit. After we calmed down he asked me "You're joking right?"

I absolutely died. Was he serious? I glanced over at his face and it appeared that he was. He actually looked a little offended that I was laughing at his question.

"I was kidding. I don't have a penis. I was just messing with you. We really need to work on that sense of humor of yours. You have the whole sarcasm thing down but we need to work on your dirty side." I said.

"My… dirty side?" he asked me.

"Yeah, you know like perverted jokes and stuff." I explained.

"Oh… like 'that's what she said' jokes? I never really understood those." He said.

I face-palmed. "I have a lot to teach you, young grasshopper." I said in a wise sounding voice.

Vincent gave me a weird look.

"Ok… that's what she said jokes are basically jokes about what girls might… you know… um… say in, um, bed." My cheeks felt like they were on fire.

"Can you give me an example?" he asked innocently.

"You have got to be kidding me." I muttered under my breath, and then in a louder voice said "Well, if someone is describing something and they say something along the lines of that's really long, or that's really big. Then you say that's what she said." I explained.

"Can you say that's what she said even if a guy says it?" he asked me.

"Yeah… do you know anything about pick-up lines?" I asked him, changing the subject.

His brow furrowed. "I think so."

"Well some girls think they're really hilarious, so if you say one in a really sarcastic way they might actually be intrigued. But other girls hate them so you just have to try and judge their personality and figure out whether they would appreciate a good pick-up line or not." I told him.

Vincent looked like he was trying to take it all in. "When would it be an appropriate time to use a pick-up line?"

"Well if you use it on someone you don't know it can be an ice breaker. You could use it at a club, or a party, or a game. One of the most classic pickup lines is: come here often? You have to say it in a specific way, so they get that you're joking and not actually seriously trying to use the lamest pick up line on them." I said.

"But if it's so lame why does it work?" he asked me.

"Because if you can ask them that and pull it off you'll be seen as funny and girls _always _like funny guys." I said.

"Huh…" was all he said.

"Have you ever dated anyone?" I asked him.

He slid a glance over at me and I _swear_ he blushed. "Well… I, um… you see… it's just that…" he sighed. "No." He finally answered.

"That's ok." I said.

He looked over at me, shocked. "It is?" he asked me dubiously.

"Yeah. I think it's better if you date no one than date a bunch of girls and mess with their feelings." I said to him.

"Oh… well when you put it that way it does sound better. It's just a little… embarrassing not ever having a girlfriend before. I've just been so concentrated on other things that I never really give thought to that sort of thing." He said to me. He sure was opening up to me tonight.

"Well, Vincent we're just going to have to take you out to Wildcat and hook you up with someone." I told him.

"We?" he asked.

"Of course! Zack, Cloud, Yuffie, Aerith and I are going to be there to cheer you on."

"We should go back. We've been out here for a while now. You must be tired by now." He said.

Now that he had mentioned I felt the sudden urge to yawn. I resisted and said "Ok, but just remember this weekend: Wildcat."

"I won't forget." He told me.

We stood up and Vincent rolled up the blanket and then stowed it away somewhere on his motorcycle. He got on the bike and I followed suit. We put our helmets on and then Vincent started driving away from the Forgotten City.

It truly was beautiful here. I admired the trees that soon became blurs as Vincent sped up. I rested my head against his back and tried not to fall asleep. It was really tempting because not only was he warm but his body was surprisingly comfortable which didn't help resisting sleep at all.

But it was such a long drive back to Cloud's house… my eyes slipped shut and I quickly fell asleep.

I was jolted awake when Vincent stopped the motorcycle. We were back at Cloud's house.

Vincent helped me off the bike like I was some kind of invalid or something. He had probably noticed that I'd fallen asleep on the way here. Oh well.

We walked inside together and we were immediately greeted by Cloud's voice. "Where have you been?"

I tried to play it off with a joke but I had heard the dangerous edge to his voice. "I didn't know I had a curfew, _Mom._"

He glared at me. "This isn't funny, Tifa. I was really worried about you. You should've told me where you were going first."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that you would wake up. I thought we were going to be back before that." I said.

"What were you two doing anyway?" he asked, suspicion filling his face and his eyes.

"We just went out for a ride. We talked. That's _all_. Did you think I cheated on you?" I asked him seriously.

He looked down and avoided my eyes. That was all the answer I needed.

"_Cloud." _I groaned. I walked over to him and reached up to cup his face. I made him look me in the eye while I told him "I would _never _cheat on you. Never. There is nothing you could do, no fight we could have, no man that walks by that would ever tempt me to cheat on you. I care for you and I don't ever want to see you hurt."

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Our lips met and the little… disagreement we had just had was erased from our memories, never to be spoken of again.

When we pulled away from each other Cloud asked me "Just tell me next time, ok?"

"Definitely. We'll all hang out together." I promised. He smiled and then looked over my shoulder at Vincent. I looked too.

Vincent looked more than a little awkward to be standing there. In all honesty, I had completely forgotten about him.

"Oh… sorry, Vincent." I said, blushing.

"It's ok. I'm going to go now. I have to go home." he said. It was kind of a lame excuse but I decided not to try and figure out why he said it.

"Don't forget this weekend!" I called after him. I heard him grunt an agreement which was good enough for me.

"What was that about?" Cloud asked me curiously, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth and then another kiss just beside that.

"We're taking Vincent to Wildcat over the weekend." I said, trying not to get distracted by Cloud's kisses.

He paused and then continued kissing me. Now, he was at my jaw and moving slowly down to my neck. "Why?" he asked in between kisses.

"So, um, Vincent can have, uh, experience with, um, girls." I said, struggling to remember what I had just been saying.

"What do you mean by 'experience'?" Cloud asked me right before he proceeded to kiss the spot where my pulse hammered away in my throat.

"Well he's never… uh, had a serious… um, uh… relationship with a girl… well it's more uh, like… oh…" I stopped speaking after that because I had quite simply lost my train of thought. Cloud was sucking on my pulse point and it felt… incredible. I was sure I'd have a hickey there tomorrow, but luckily since it was winter I'd have an excuse to wear a scarf.

I let my head fall back so Cloud would have more access to my throat. I held back a moan that had been bubbling up in my throat.

I felt a counter hit my lower back. I lifted myself onto it with some help from Cloud. Now, we were more evenly matched.

He started where he had left off. Except this time he was doing something with his tongue that was a complete turn on. I lifted my hands up so I could entangle my fingers into his spikes. This guy was so irresistible.

"You taste really good." He murmured into my skin.

"Thanks." I said. My voice sounded all breathy and not like my normal voice at all.

He lifted his head away from my neck and our eyes locked. He started to bring his mouth closer to mine but all of a sudden there was a huge crash and then a hissed "Shit!"

Cloud sprang away from me like I had the plague. I looked over in the direction of the crash and saw Zack standing there holding his foot. It looked like he had stubbed his toe on a chair.

He looked up and saw us watching him and gave an apologetic grin. "Sorry guys." He said. "Didn't mean to cockblock you. I had to take a piss and this damn chair just _had _to be here." He walked away, still grumbling about the chair.

I looked at Cloud and we giggled quietly. I leaned my head on his chest and sighed. The romantic mood from earlier was gone and I didn't think we'd get it back tonight.

Cloud dropped a kiss on the top of my head and helped me off the counter. "Well," he said. "What do we do now?"

I shrugged and then yawned. "Maybe go to sleep." I suggested after I stopped yawning.

"Sleep or _sleep_?" he asked me suggestively, giving me a wink. I shoved his shoulder and he stumbled away laughing. I rolled my eyes at his immaturity.

After he finished laughing he took my hand and pulled me along in the direction of his bedroom. I followed him along, almost stumbling in my tiredness.

When we reached his bedroom I collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep almost immediately. But before I did, I felt Cloud scoot me over a little and then climb into bed beside me. He wrapped his arms around my middle and pulled me closer.

_That's _when I fell asleep for the second time that night, or morning, or whatever. Jeez. Don't be so anal about it!

** Did you guys like it? Huh? Huh? Huh? Sorry, I'm really tired but hyper at the same time even though it's only** **like ten o'clock right now. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter which took me all day to write because I kept taking "breaks." Hehe. Well good night and you know, stay sexy. ;) **

**OH! Review replies. I almost forgot! D: Shocking, I know. **

**cloudlover2989: I'm glad you liked it. And did you like where they went? Was it good or were my descriptions hopelessly off?**

**Shivana: I think I did pretty well on all of my classes except my World Civilization one. I probably bombed it, which sucks . I'm glad you liked the snow ball fight. I worked hard on that. It took me like two and a half hours to get just right. But it was worth it **

**Faebsel: I didn't know if I was going to put Vincent in here or not but I needed someone else for them to play snowball with. Originally, he was going to be making out with Yuffie when Cloud and Tifa came home from their first date and then it was going to be Reno but then I decided to just take out the whole scene because I couldn't figure out how to put it in. **

**AquaticSilver: I know you didn't reply to this chapter but I really wanted to reply to your review for chapter 3 so I figured I'd just put it here. Anyway, yeah I think that's like my best few lines of the whole story so far. It's something I can totally see myself saying. **

**Well, good night, because I am about to pass out but if you have any questions about the story or if you think it's horrible (I can take flames, because I think they genuinely help me if they're more of the constructive criticism type) then just PM me or give a review and I'll try to review as soon as possible. **

** Also, since it is still Christmas break and is only the 22nd I will probably have time to do one or two more chapters but after school starts who's to say? It'll probably go back to one chapter a week. I know I should probably hold off on publishing this so that if I do forget to type up a chapter one week I'll be a week ahead but I'm too nice and I know you guys are just on the edge of your seats waiting to figure out what will happen next. Plus, I kind of want to get this off of my hands so I don't forget to post it. (It's happened before.) **

** So now that I have typed up this insanely long Author's Note I must go my dear readers. Au Revoir! **


	8. Date Night

**I'd like to take a second just to thank everyone who has read this story and reviewed or favorited or story alerted. I really appreciate it. **** I feel like sometimes only the people who review get the writer's attention but the alerters and favoriters are just as important! They are: **_AquaticSilver, Black Vinta, Faebsel, Oncinlity, Preetygabbysz, SapphyreMist, ScarlettToushi, ZackFairsGirl-x, Cloudlover2989, Cloudy rains, DarkStarAngel14, Dragon8820, Etuvix, Fukuoo, KairiXPrincessXOfXLight, Lady Krystalyn, Maddogpony, Rayzer kroem, Riveting tale chap, Shivana, , XLightningX, xPhiieebeex-ayannaaki, and Xtreme Enigma. _**I love you guys and keep doing what you do best! :)) **

When I woke up, I got that feeling that you get when you know you've slept for a long time. I glanced at the clock on Cloud's beside table and saw that it was one in the afternoon. Considering it had been about two when I had fallen asleep I shouldn't have been all that surprised.

I looked over at Cloud who was still asleep beside me. His face looked really peaceful and open and… vulnerable. He looked like a little kid. I smiled softly at him and then reached out and flicked one of his spikes. He didn't move. I sat up a bit more so I could lean over him. I placed my hands on either sides of his head and started leaning down, thinking to wake him up with a good morning kiss.

All of a sudden we were flipped over. Cloud hovered over me and held my hands above my head. He smirked at me and I think my heart skipped a beat. He slowly started leaning his head down and my breathing picked up in anticipation.

Just as our lips were _this _close to touching Cloud's door slammed open and an exuberant voice called out "Hey guys! How did you- Oh… never mind. I'm just going to, um, go."

Cloud sighed in annoyance and flopped to the side. I sat up on the bed and glared daggers at Yuffie who was standing in the doorway. To her credit, she looked a little sheepish at having interrupted us.

"What do you want, Yuffie?" I asked her.

"Well it's one in the afternoon and I thought you guys might not want to spend the whole time in bed… but it appears I was wrong." She said with a smirk.

I hopped off the bed and walked over to the door. "Hey, Yuffie…" I said leaning in.

"Yes?" she asked excitedly.

"Fuck off." I said and then slammed the door shut. I heard laughter from the bed and turned around. The bed was shaking from Cloud's laughter. I allowed myself to join in his laughter and when it died down we both sighed at the same time.

"So, what do you want to do today?" I asked him as he got off the bed.

He stalked closer to me like a predator hunting its prey. I unconsciously took a step back and felt my back hit the door. He smirked at me again and like before my heart skipped a beat. I gulped. He saw it and his smirk only grew bigger.

He reached me and put his hands on either side of my head and leaned in until our noses almost touched.

"Well, I thought I might take you out for a date today." He said to me.

"I'll have to check my schedule, you know, see if I can fit you in. I _am_ a hot commodity after all." I teased.

"Yes. Yes, you are." He said back. After a moment's pause he said "So how's your schedule looking?"

"I think there's a five minute window open at 3. I _might _be able to fit you in then." I said being mock serious.

"I guess I'll have to take what I can get." He sighed. He let his hands fall to my shoulders, then they trailed down my sides and when they reached my waist he tightened his hands and pulled me up against his lean, hard body. "But maybe I can convince you to give me more time." He said smiling down at me.

"I might be able to make some adjustments." I appeased.

"For me?" He asked trying to be meek or something.

"No! Of course not! I'm just using you to make the other guys jealous." I said laughing.

"Using me, huh?" he asked me, and a funny look came over his face. It was hard to tell what was going over his face. There was some desire there and then some fondness and happiness but what was that sly look? What was he planning?

"Uh huh." I replied uneasily.

He lowered his head and caught my lips with his own. I pushed me against the door. His hand snaked around to my back and went under the hem of my shirt. His hand was really warm and sent tingles up and down my spine.

Two could play this game. I put my hands on his shirtless chest. I trailed my fingers down his chest and then gently – so that he could hardly feel it – I traced the outline of his abs.

I heard him suck in a breath and grinned despite myself.

He pulled away from me and leaned his head against the door. "You don't know what you do to me, Tifa." He said. His voice was husky and a little shaky. At that moment his voice did more to me than anything else he could've done right then.

"C-Cloud." I whispered. He then rested his head against my shoulder. I could feel his warm breaths against my shoulder.

After about a minute he lifted his head up and kissed my cheek. "So do you want to go out with me today?" he asked me.

"U-Uh, yeah." I said elegantly. Stupid, stupid. Good job, Tifa. He's probably completely turned off by the fact that you can hardly compose yourself.

"Good." He smiled then and my breath was taken away at the sight of it. It was… radiant. I pulled him in for a hug and held him close. His arms wrapped around me and I relaxed into them. What some guys don't realize is that most girls are just satisfied with being held. They don't realize that it's not what they say it's what they do that proves that you're in love. And boy, oh boy, was I falling fast in love with Cloud.

I pulled away from Cloud. "I'm going to go see if Aerith or Yuffie has any clothes for me then we'll go out." I told him. I had a hard time looking at him. I felt a little awkward.

He chuckled. "Ok, Tifa. If they don't have anything for you I might be able to dig up some old clothes of mine that you can borrow."

I nodded and then turned around and opened the door. I went to the kitchen, but didn't find anyone there. I wandered through the house looking around. I got a feel then just how big it was. No, not big. Massive. Ginormous. Humongous. Behemoth. It was enormous. I shook my head.

I started poking my head into random rooms hoping I'd get lucky and find someone.

Finally, I found Aerith and Zack sitting in a huge library. She was sitting on the couch with a book in her hands and Zack had her feet in his lap giving her a foot massage.

"As it should be." I said, walking into the room. "Women showing superiority over men."

Aerith laughed. Zack shook his head, but I could tell he was trying not to laugh. He'd do anything for her. They were so in love it was almost sickening.

"Hey, Aerith, did you or Yuffie go back to the apartment today?" I asked her. She shook her head. "We weren't planning on really doing anything today." She said.

I sighed. "Ok. I'll just borrow some clothes from Cloud."

I walked out of the room and made my way back to Cloud's room. I entered his room. He was already dressed and he was sitting on his bed texting someone.

He looked up when I came in and then concentrated back on his phone. "I set out some clothes for you if you couldn't find any. They're on my desk." He told me.

I went over to his desk and found a pair of his jeans that looked like they'd fit pretty well. There was an old T-shirt of his on top of it.

I looked over my shoulder and saw that Cloud was still entranced in his phone. He obviously wasn't paying attention. I rolled my eyes and started to slip off my jeans from yesterday. Cloud didn't know what he was missing. I slipped into the jeans which were apparently skinny jeans of his. They fit really well, almost better than my own. I buttoned them and then pulled my shirt off slowly.

I heard Cloud make a choked noise. I glanced over at my shoulder. He was staring at me wide-eyed. I rolled my eyes and then pulled on his shirt. It also fit pretty well.

I turned around. Cloud was looking at his hands now, and I saw a faint red tinge on his cheek. "You're clothes fit pretty well." I told him.

"I wore those clothes in high school." He admitted.

"You must have been really small in high school. What happened?" I asked him. He was way too tall for these pants. There would've been at least 4 inches from the bottom of the jeans to his ankle, at least. Plus his legs were thicker now with muscle. Cloud must've been a stick in high school.

"I grew up." Was all he said.

Cloud stopped his bike and let me get off. I took my helmet off and placed it on the back of his bike. He took off his helmet and shook his head, his spikes bouncing about.

"That was really dramatic. Were you trying to do it like in the movies?" I asked him. Honestly, he had pulled it off.

He looked a little sheepish. "Maybe…" I laughed as he got off his bike and took his hand. I started dragging him along and then realized that this was his date. I had no idea where he was taking me.

He grinned at me, as if he had read my thoughts, and led us down the street. It was in a more homey part of the city. There were little shops around. They looked like they were those mom-and-pop stores.

Cloud led me to the corner, where a tiny café was sitting. He pulled me inside and I looked around while he ordered us something to eat. I trusted his judgment.

The place was pretty small. There were a few tables on one side of the café and on the other was a sort of lounge. There were some low bookshelves that were filled to the rim with books and couches were spaced around a rather large coffee table. There were only three other people in the café and they all sat at one of the tables. I decided that the couches would be a good choice.

I sat down gingerly on one and it was like I got sucked into a black hole. The couch swallowed me whole. Oh, but it was so comfortable. Like sitting on a cloud or something. Or maybe sitting on Cloud. My Cloud. I bet that could be pretty comfortable. Hm… I'd have to try it sometime.

Just then, Cloud joined me on the couch. He set the drinks down first, and then he too was swallowed up by the couch.

We both chuckled. I lunged forward and picked up my drink. I could feel the heat of it through the sides of the cup. I gingerly took a sip and realized he'd gotten me a hot chocolate. It was delicious too.

"Mmm…" I moaned, closing my eyes and savoring the taste.

I glanced over at Cloud and saw he was watching me. "Do you like it?" he asked me with a small smile.

I nodded. "So how did you find this place?" I asked him curiously.

He glanced around and then said "It was raining heavily."

"Oh here we go. Here comes the horror story. _It was raining heavily, and Alice had no place left to run…" _I intoned in a deep voice.

He laughed and then said "Close. I was walking down here and was soaking wet. I saw this little café and I thought I'd stop by here for a drink before I called for a cab."

"When I came inside there was no one here. I rang a bell and there was a huge boom from the kitchen. I ran around the counter and burst through the door. I found a huge mess. A woman about thirty years old was covered in chocolate from head to toe. In fact, the whole kitchen was pretty much covered. When I asked her what happened she told me that she'd been making chocolate fondue but her machine had gotten to hot and chocolate had gone everywhere." He continued.

"By then, the chocolate was starting to harden. I had to help her out of there and up to her apartment upstairs. After she had taken a shower I helped her clean up her mess. When we were done she made me a hot chocolate and we stayed up late talking." Cloud said. I could see he was very fond of this woman.

All of a sudden his story was cut short by a voice yelling out "Cloud Strife! I thought I saw you come in! You don't even tell me you're coming and you just show up like it's nothing!"

A short woman with brown hair and bright blue eyes came up beside the couch and smiled at Cloud. "Hey, Amanda. Sorry, I didn't call ahead, I was a little busy." He said.

She waved her hand. "It's ok. Ah… who is she? She's cute, Cloud. Why haven't you brought her sooner? Are you ashamed of me?" she asked. I put my hand over my mouth to stifle my giggle.

"We only just started dating, Amanda." He explained.

She grinned. "Oh, Cloud. I'm only playing with you. Let an old woman have her moment." She ruffled Cloud's hair.

He laughed. "Amanda. You're only thirty." He told her. She slapped a hand over his mouth quickly and looked around suspiciously.

"Shh! You know you're never supposed to reveal a woman's age!"

I was pretty much dead with laughter by now. Who knew Cloud had friends this funny? Or even had friends in the first place? Just kidding, that last part, yeah that was a joke. I tend to make them sometimes.

"I'm Tifa." I finally said, holding out my hand. She took it and shook it. "You take care of my Cloud here. He's very _sensitive._" She said. Cloud looked embarrassed.

"Oh. Don't worry. I'm practically his babysitter. He can hardly tie his shoes without me. I think we're going to have to go back to Velcro; it seems that laces are too challenging for him yet." I joked.

Amanda's mouth dropped open and then she burst out laughing. "Oh, Cloud. She's a keeper. I like this one."

I blushed.

"Well, Cloud, I won't intrude on your date any longer. I'll see you later." She leaned down and gave Cloud a kiss on his cheek.

She gave me a smile and said "Tifa come back any time. Next time you come, we can have some girl talk." She winked at me while Cloud groaned. "Just what I need: the two women in my life gossiping about me."

Amanda just laughed and shook her head as she walked away.

"She's awesome." I said.

"Yeah, she's been kind of like my mom." He said.

"Really? What, um, happened to your parents?" I asked him. We had never talked about his family. Or mine either for that matter.

"We don't talk to each other. My mother and I never got along and her boyfriends always hated me too, maybe because I warned her away from them. I don't know. Once I left the house I never talked to her again. I've never met my dad. I guess he was just some one night stand or something." He said. He seemed a little angry. I put my hand on his arm and I could feel how tense he was. He relaxed and looked me in the eye.

"What about you?" he asked me.

"My parents wish I went to college, but that's not something I see in my future. I guess I just haven't figured out what I want to be yet and that's what's holding me back. So for now and probably until I do something 'respectable' with my life I've been excommunicated from my parents." I told him.

"Looks like we both have parent problems. Maybe we should make a club or something." He said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Hmm, maybe." I said, distracted by the shelves of books. They were packed full. I got off the couch and knelt in front of the book shelf. I had a secret love of reading. I was a total bookworm. Lately though, I hadn't really had the time to read lately. Considering I'd been abducted… but even before that I hadn't read as much as I would've liked to.

Amanda had a lot of the popular young adult romances. I saw a few books written by Lurlene McDaniel. I also saw the Twilight Saga, and the Vampire Academy series. I found a book that I hadn't read before called Fallen by Laury Falter. I had never heard of the book or the author but the summary on the back intrigued me.

Fallen was a book about a girl named Maggie who goes to New Orleans. Attempts are made on her life but a mysterious stranger saves her each time. She eventually realizes that he may be the key to figure out why these people keep on attacking her.

The mysterious stranger is the part that got to me. I stood up and walked over to the couch and sat onto it, my nose already buried in the book.

I didn't know what Cloud was going to do to keep himself occupied and I didn't really care. I was already entranced in Maggie's world, trying to figure out exactly who Eran was and what his connection to her was.

Halfway through the book I decided to take a break. I looked up to find Cloud watching me. I grinned and at him and asked "Have you been watching me the whole time?"

He hesitated and then nodded. I scoffed. "Cloooud." I dragged out his name so he would understand the full extent of my aggravation. "That's a little creepy."

He grinned and then said "I like watching all the emotion go across your face. It's a whole story by itself. It's beautiful." He said.

I blushed. Had Cloud just called me beautiful? Cloud's grin turned into a smirk when he saw my blush.

I rolled my eyes at him and stood. I was a little stiff so I stretched and took a walk around the café. We were the only ones still here. I got sight of the clock and saw that it was almost four o'clock. I couldn't believe that much time had passed.

I went back over to Cloud. "Did you know that it's almost four?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "I have something else planned for us, but we still have time."

"I'm at a good stopping point in my story. Do you think Amanda will let me borrow her book?" I asked him.

"As long as you return it." He said simply.

I leaned down and picked up my book. "Let's go see this other thing you had planned for us." I said.

Cloud nodded and pulled on his jacket that I hadn't noticed he'd taken off. He stood up and called out "Amanda! We're heading out now."

"Ok! Tifa you come back now! Cloud, I'll see you around!" she called back from somewhere in the kitchen.

Cloud smiled to himself as we walked out of the café. We held hands as we walked back to the bike. It was cold outside and the heat from his hand kept my own hand warm.

We reached the bike and got on. Cloud started up the bike and drove away.

Cloud stopped the motorcycle and got off. I followed behind him. "Wait. Turn around." I gave him a weird look but did as he asked.

A bandana came into my field of view and I felt him tie it to the back of my head so that it covered my eyes. "You're going to rape me are you?" I asked him sarcastically.

"You can't rape the willing." He said mock seriously but I heard the laughter in his voice.

"We'll see." I replied mysteriously, or so I hoped I came off as.

Cloud took my bicep and started leading me along. We had driven out of the city until we reached a road that was bordered on both sides by dense forest. To my horror he had stopped on the side of the road and then proceeded to blindfold me.

Now I tripped over a rock that Cloud had failed to inform me of. "You suck at giving warnings." I told him.

He pulled me to the right gently and said "Rock."

I rolled my eyes even though I knew he couldn't see them.

Finally, after a few more minutes of me stumbling around we apparently reached our destination.

"Sit down. Right… here." He said and dragged my arm down. I collapsed onto what felt like a blanket and sighed in relief that I wouldn't have to rely on his shitty warnings any longer.

I reached up and untied the bandana and let it fall onto my lap.

We were in a cabin. The blanket was on a dirt floor. It appeared that there was no furniture in the room. There was, however, a fireplace that Cloud was piling up with wood. It didn't take him very long to get a fire started up and even though it was only like twenty degrees outside, inside the cabin it was starting to get hot.

I shrugged out of my jacket and put it off to the side.

Cloud had also taken off his coat and now he sat beside me. Out of seemingly nowhere he put a picnic basket between us. He took the top of it and we both looked inside.

It appeared to have the padding that allows food to either stay hot or cold for a long time. There was a plastic container that was steamed up I couldn't see what was inside. There was a pack of chocolate chip cookies. There were also four cans of Sprite, my favourite kind of soda. There was also a container of lettuce. We pulled everything out of the picnic basket and found two plates and some napkins and a few spoons and forks on the bottom of the basket.

Cloud set a plate in front of me and one in front of him and then proceeded to open the plastic containers. He opened the lettuce first and asked me if I wanted some.

"What kind of dressing is on it?" I asked him.

He looked up from the salad bowl and met my eyes with his. "Raspberry vinaigrette." He said.

Surprised, I broke into a wide grin. "That's my favourite."

"It's mine too." He said and then carefully spooned some onto my plate.

He put some on his plate too and then opened the steamed up container. A puff of steam rose up. I watched it for a second before leaning forward to see what was in the container. Pasta. With meatballs.

This had to be favourite meal of all time. How did he manage to get all of my favourites? Did he talk to Aerith or Yuffie?

"This is my favourite meal." He said.

"No way! Mine too. This is awesome. I wonder what else we have in common." I said thoughtfully as he finished serving us. I grabbed a Sprite and popped the tab and took a drink.

"Are you a cat person or a dog person?" he asked me suddenly after putting a forkful of lettuce in his mouth.

"Cat. Definitely cat." I said confidently.

"Me too. Zack always calls me a pussy every time I say that but I think cats are way superior to dogs in every way." He said.

We smiled at each other. "Hockey or football?" I asked him.

"Hockey. It's so underrated. Plus it's more violent than football." Cloud said immediately.

"Same here." I replied. And so it went like that stupid Pepsi or Coke questionnaire game. Except this was way better.

I found that we both preferred Disney over Nickelodeon, Harry Potter over Twilight, Canada over the U.S., oceans over lakes, and iPods or phones.

We had a lot in common. While we talked we had eaten and soon we were both finished with all of our food.

Cloud stretched out and lay on his back. He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

I watched him for a moment before I started putting the food away back into the basket. When I was finished I went back to watching him. He cracked open one eye and asked "Are you going to keep staring at me like that?"

I blushed at having been caught and said "No. You have a lovely face. I couldn't help but stare." There was an edge of sarcasm to my voice and by the lift of his lips I could tell he caught it.

"Not as lovely as yours, my dear." He said back with the same sarcasm.

"Why thank you honey. You're sweet enough to kill a diabetic." I said in a false southern accent.

He burst out laughing. "Where did you here that from?"

"I heard someone say it once and I've always wanted to say it to someone, and I thought this was the perfect chance." I explained.

Cloud's shoulders still shook with his laughter. I honestly didn't think it was _that _funny but what ever floats his boat I guess.

When he was done laughing we both got quiet. I sighed and then curled my body up next to his. My head rested on his chest and I could hear his heartbeat.

There was a slight chill to the air but being right next to Cloud's warmth made it go away. I sighed again in content.

I wish I could freeze this moment in time and stay here forever. It would've been paradise.

I suddenly heard Cloud snore and had to stifle a giggle, so as not to awaken him. I relaxed beside him and felt my own eyes drift shut. My last thought before I fell asleep was that I hoped no wild animals came and killed us in our sleep. Then I was gone.

When I woke up, I found Cloud hovering over me. His blue eyes almost seemed to glow in the near darkness. The only light seemed to be coming from the near dead fire.

"Cloud?" I asked him.

"It's time to go, Tifa." He said tenderly.

I nodded and sat up. He sat beside me and checked the time on his phone. "It's almost ten. We need to go. I'm sure the others are wondering where we've been." He told me.

We stood up and I picked up the basket while he grabbed the basket. "What do we do with these? I know you didn't bring them with you."

He walked over to the wall and knelt down. There was a small cupboard there and he opened it. He placed the blanket inside and then took the basket from me and placed that in there too."

We pulled on our jackets and left the little cabin. We held hands on the way back to the bike. All around us were the sounds of the forest. You could hear the wind blowing through the bare branches of the trees, the call of some wild animal and the crunch of our footsteps in the snow.

We emerged from the woods just as a car drove by. I was temporarily blinded by the bright light but soon I could see again.

We got on the bike and drove back into the city. I rested my head against Cloud's back and felt completely comfortable sitting behind him on the back of his bike.

He drove back to his house. All the lights were off so everyone was presumably asleep.

We entered quietly through the garage door. Cloud led me through the house until we came to what looked like a rec room. "Do you play video games?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "Sometimes. I'm not very good at them though."

He nodded and turned on the white Xbox 360. He went through his video games and then put one inside the Xbox.

"I'm decent." He said after a moment. We each picked out a controller. He picked black and I picked the white one. We also attached headsets to the controllers so we could talk to the other players. Then we sat down on the couch and waited for the game to start up.

When I found out what we were playing I could hardly suppress a grin. I was good at these types of games.

He picked a map to play on and then we each picked our guns. We were on Xbox Live so we also played against different people. Cloud and I were on opposing teams, which made it even more fun.

The first kill of the game went to someone on my team. "Yeah booooy!" A person named TonightTonight shouted through the headset. I guess he was the one who had made the first kill.

I ran through some sort of tunnel and saw a guy run past. I followed him. He appeared just up ahead and I shot him in the back a few times. He fell to the ground.

"Damn!" someone shouted and I figured that was who I had just killed. I started running again, looking for more victims. I killed off three more people within the next five people.

Suddenly, everyone was out to get me. There was a lot of chit chat going on through the headsets with everyone wondering who I was. "She's my girlfriend." Cloud said suddenly.

"Is she hot?" Someone called ScottRulezzz5 asked.

Cloud glanced over at me and in that moment I shot him in the head. He laughed when he looked on the screen and then said "Yeah, she's beautiful."

"Damn, you're lucky bro. Does she have a mic?" asked someone named Yo-mamaKillr.

"Yeah. She's just concentrating on the game." Cloud said as I shot someone else.

"Come on, baby. Talk to us!" crooned a guy called Razrbladez2.

All of a sudden my character was riddled with bullets. "No!" I cried.

There was silence on the headsets and then Yo-mamaKillr said "I- I think I just came in my pants. That was _hot_."

I burst out laughing while Cloud sat on the couch beside me seething. "Um… Thanks?" I said. I wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. It was kind of… disgusting.

"Anytime for you, baby." Yo-mamaKillr told me.

"If you don't fuck off right now, I will hunt you down and castrate your balls." Cloud hissed into his mic.

There was silence again and then Yo-mamaKillr said "Calm down, bro. I'm just playing. Don't get so serious."

I suddenly shot Yo-mamaKillr with no scope in the head. "Hot damn." He said over the headsets.

I got up while keeping my eyes on the game and carefully sat down on Cloud's lap, wiggling around trying to get a little more comfortable. I threw a grenade back at someone and it successfully killed them. I wasn't really paying attention to the chatter in my ear any longer. It was just about me anyway.

I got taken down again but when I came back I immediately got revenge. I then got two double kills in a row and felt pretty pleased with myself. I was at the top of a building and was scoping a guy. I pressed on the button and the bullet went through a hole in the building and hit him in the head. Then the game was over. Everyone watched the last kill and then praised me for it once the game was over.

I collapsed back against Cloud and felt all my muscles relax. I hadn't realized how tensed up I was.

I leaned back and kissed Cloud on his cheek and then whispered in his ear "There's no need to be jealous, Cloud. I'm yours."

He kissed me then and everything went away except for the feel of his lips on mine and his hand in my hair.

When we pulled away we were both gasping for breath. We had already joined a new party and this time we were playing on a different map. This one had snow in it and it appeared we were in a city. The last map had been all mud and huts.

"I thought you said you weren't good at video games." Cloud accused as we picked out our guns.

"Well this is practically the only game I'm good at. My brother had an Xbox and he would make me play with him all the time, and the only games he had were ones like this one. That's why I'm good at Modern Warfare." I told him.

"I never would have expected you to be good at video games." He told me.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty useless at every other game that's not shoot-em-up." I said.

He laughed. "I'll remember that next time, so I'm not completely showed up by my girlfriend."

I just rolled my eyes.

Like last time, I completely owned everyone and since they were all guys they were pretty impressed. Cloud managed to control his temper when they started talking about how much they wanted to bang me. I bantered back that the only girl who would ever bang them is the giant sex doll hidden in their closet.

They all burst out laughing. They seemed surprised that I could be just as dirty as them.

Cloud and I played a few more games and then I started getting a little tired. I decided to call it quits. I turned off my controller and just sat on Cloud's lap watching him play. Soon, the chatter of machine gun fire lulled me to sleep.

_**Run. Harder. Faster. Don't stop running. **__I found myself on a treadmill. I was in some sort of glass walled box with scientists surrounding me. Some of them had clipboards and would occasionally jot down something, while others just stood and watched. _

_ The treadmill started going faster and I struggled to keep up with it. Sweat was pouring off my body and it felt like my throat was getting smaller and smaller as I gasped for breath. But I still ran faster. I guess I had some sort of idea that if I did what they wanted me to they would let me go. So far, this idea had proved to be false but I hadn't given up hope yet. _

_ A voice came on overhead, resounding throughout my glass cage. "Only ten more minutes of running and you'll be given a short break and then subjected to more tests." _

_ I almost collapsed then. I had the distinct feeling that I had been running for a very, very long time. _

_ I could feel the treadmill starting to slow down incrementally and I was thankful for it. My feet were now pounding over it. _

_ Finally, the treadmill stopped altogether and I bent over with my hands on my knees and breathed deeply. _

_ I soon caught my breath. A water bottle was put in my box through a small door on the side and I gratefully drank it. It tasted a little funny but I wasn't about to complain. _

_ I drank the whole water bottle. The room started spinning and I knew it was from whatever had been in the water bottle._

_ "We put a sedative in your water so that when we brought you to your next testing area you wouldn't be… difficult." The same voice from earlier said. _

_ I collapsed on the treadmill, and I would've fought against the sedative but I was already exhausted and so I gave into the pull. _

_ The last thing I heard was "You're doing very well, Tifa. We'll soon let you go… on your first mission." _

** I hope you're not completely disgusted with me and that you guys are still enjoying my story. So far, no one has come out and told me that they hated it and that I should stop writing forever… which is a good thing. I hope. So anyway, onto review replies: **

** Shivana: Yeah, my teacher specifically told me that if we studied our old tests then we'd be perfectly fine. So I studied all my tests and then when I got to the final there were no questions like the ones on the tests! I was so pissed off. **

** Lol, happy thoughts ;) Yeah, I try to make these things humorous and sometimes it's a hit or miss because what I might find funny others might find um… offensive haha. **

** I'm excited about writing the part with Vincent; I hope it's going to be hilarious. At least I'll think it's funny. **

** Faebsel: Can you believe that I've never done anything like that before? Well at least in real life… I just haven't found the right guy to do it with :/ But when the time comes… *laughs evilly* **

** Cloudlover2989: Thanks! I worked hard on the description. I'm not really sure myself where I was trying to there… Yeah, I had so many things that I needed for them to say that it might have been a little all over the place. And I'm not really sure what you mean when you say you hope that the next chapter is "very sponsored." Was that an autocorrect lol? **

** I'm not sure when the next chapter is going to be posted as in if it will be posted before or after New Year's or whether I'm going to wait until after school starts to start another chapter. I just don't know. I just write whenever I feel inspired. **

** By the way this story was 12 pages long! I'm so proud of myself. **


	9. Memory or Dream?

** Thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter. I really appreciate them. They all made me smile and made me want to write even more. **

I entered Seventh Heaven and was immediately assaulted by Johnny's voice. He owned the Seventh Heaven and thought he was in love with me. Because of that he constantly annoyed me while I was trying to work.

"Tifa! Where have you been, my love?" he asked me.

I worked to keep myself from snapping at him. "I… haven't been feeling well, and I'm sorry that I forgot to call in and tell you." I said as I went into the back of the restaurant and picked out my apron and put it on.

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" he asked me. I could see the worry in his eyes.

I sighed. "No, Johnny. I'm fine, really. Don't worry about me." I reassured him.

"Well if you don't feel well don't hesitate to tell me." he said and then left. He probably went to his office where he usually spent his time.

The only other waitress was twenty-two and wouldn't be arriving until lunch time and it was only eight o'clock now. I sighed and went back out to the dining area.

I sat down in a booth that faced the door and pulled out Fallen, the book that I had brought with me. Since it was Tuesday I didn't expect anyone to come in during the morning.

It wasn't until ten that the first customer came in. She looked like the artsy type. She was slender and wore tight jeans. She had a crop top on with crazy swirls all over it; her purple ankle boots matched some of the swirls on her shirt. She had a bunch of bangles that covered almost all of her left forearm, which tinkled together because she wasn't wearing a jacket even though it could have only been 20 degrees. She had long dark brown hair that cascaded over her shoulders and light blue eyes. All in all, she was quite pretty she just had an odd sense of style.

I bookmarked my page and then stood up and walked over to her.

"Just one?" I asked. She nodded and I pulled out a menu and led her to small booth by one of the windows.

"Thank you." She said as she sat down.

"Would you like anything to drink?" I asked her, not bothering to pull out my order pad.

"Yes, can I get a hot chocolate? And if it's not too much trouble could you sprinkle some cinnamon in there too?" she asked.

I smiled warmly and said "Sure." I headed into the kitchen and pulled out a mug from the cabinets where we kept them. I poured some milk into the cup and then poured the milk into a measuring cup and set that in the microwave. I heated it for a minute and then grabbed a hot chocolate packet and the cinnamon from the spice cabinet. By that time, the milk was done. I put in the hot chocolate mix first and then poured in a quarter of the milk into the cup. I stirred up the mixture until it was in a paste. Then I poured the rest of the milk into the cup. I stirred well and it soon became a light brown color. I threw in a pinch of cinnamon and stirred the hot chocolate again. I put the cinnamon away and swirled a little whipped cream onto the top and then brought it out to the lady.

The whole procedure had taken less than five minutes.

I set the hot chocolate down in front of her and watched her as she wrapped her hands around the mug and brought it up to her lips. She took a dainty sip and then said "It's perfect. Thank you."

I grinned and replied. "You're very welcome. Is there anything else you want?"

"Do you have any chocolate chip cookies?" she asked.

"Sure. Is that all you want?" I asked her, making sure.

"Yes." She said simply so I left. I headed back into the kitchen and got a chocolate chip out of the cookie jar and put it on a plate. I brought it out to her and set it down beside her elbow.

"If you need anything else I'll be right over there." I told her, motioning to my booth. She just nodded. I returned to my booth and got back to reading.

About a half an hour later – according to the clock – the woman approached my table and said "Um, excuse me. I'm leaving now. How much was the hot chocolate?"

"$1.50." I said. She dug around in a pocket of her jeans and pulled out a five dollar bill.

"Here you go." she said, setting it down on the table and walking away.

"Wait, don't you want your change?" I asked her.

"Keep it." She called over her shoulder.

"Th-thanks." I said. The only answer I got was the bell over the door ringing.

I stared after her for a moment and then got up and rang up her hot chocolate. I took my tip out and pocketed it.

I was alone then. I was a little surprised Johnny hadn't come down from his office and annoyed me yet. Oh well, good riddance.

I returned to my book and finished it just as the other waitress came in. I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that she was thirty minutes early.

"You're early, Cissnei." I said, surprised.

"I know. I actually woke up with my alarm clock this morning. Isn't it great?" she asked me.

I just nodded. Cissnei was always late. Always. You never see her early to anything. Ever. That's why I was so surprised.

"Have you had any customers this morning?" she asked me.

"Just one. She left me a pretty good tip." I said.

"That's good." Cissnei commented.

This was probably the longest conversation we'd ever had before. We'd never had the time because she always took the shifts with the most customers and always arrived late so there was no time to talk. She also came off as kind of aloof and conceited but she'd probably just been sleepy. She was actually pretty nice.

"You know…" I said trying to decide whether or not to say it. Oh who cares, I always say what I want anyway. "I always thought you were aloof and conceited but now I found out that you're pretty cool." I said, giving her a smile.

She looked a little taken back and then said "I always thought you were a nice, sweet girl but now I found out that you're a cold, insensitive bitch. I guess we both thought wrong, huh?"

I was so shocked I took a step back. She saw the look on my face and burst out laughing. "You… should see… the look on your face!" she howled.

"I… I can't believe you thought I was serious. Oh man… that was great." She said wiping away tears from under her eyes.

I felt a little embarrassed then. She shook her head, put a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eye as she said "I was just joking. I think you're pretty cool too."

A customer entered and we both turned and smiled at the same time. Someone came in at the same time and stood behind the first person.

"Just one?" I asked the first person, going up to the hostess's stand and picking out one menu. "Ah, two, actually." He said and I grabbed another menu.

I led him to a booth next to the window and asked him what he wanted to drink. He ordered two Cokes and I headed to the kitchen to get them for him.

When I entered the kitchen, I saw that the cook had arrived. "Hey, Henry." I called out.

"Oh! Hey, Tifa. We were all wondering where you were yesterday." He said. He was a big man, almost half a foot taller than me and about 100 pounds heavier. He had a deep voice and a hilarious laugh.

"I wasn't feeling well." I said, giving him the excuse that I had given Johnny. I felt a little bad about lying to him but I didn't want it to get out that I had skipped work yesterday because I was hanging out with my boyfriend.

"Oh. Well we're all hoping you feel better." He said. After I finished talking with him I got the drinks and set them on the table in front of the man. I noticed a woman had joined him. "Are we ready to order or do we need more time?" I asked them pulling out my order pad.

They shared a look and then the lady looked at me and said "Yeah, I think so." She said.

They ordered and I quickly went back to the kitchen to put their order in. By the time their food was done Seventh Heaven started filling up quickly. Cissnei and I had to practically run from table to table and it was quite loud.

Then my arch enemy from high school walked in and I felt my heart stopped. She had bullied me for four years and here she was in my restaurant. Squaring my shoulders and plastering on a smile I walked up to her and asked her how many she would be eating with. Her name was Alison and she was a complete bitch. I wondered if she had changed since we had gotten out of high school… probably not.

"Just two." She said. I got a glimmer in her eyes and I knew that she recognized me too.

She had been one of those cliché popular girls with the blonde, highlighted hair and the perfect body. Every time I saw her I had had to struggle not to roll my eyes.

"You're Tifa right?" she asked me with a coy grin as she sat down in the crappiest booth in the whole restaurant.

"Yes, what would you like to drink?" I asked her. Knowing her, she probably got some kind of sick pleasure in making me serve her.

"We went to high school together right?" she asked, completely ignoring my question.

I nodded. "I thought so. I remember you, you know. You were the loser no one liked. The only friend you had was that Aerie girl. She was _such _a loser too."

"Her name is Aerith and she was _not _a loser. Now what can I get you to drink?" I asked her, struggling to control my temper. I had forgotten how much this bitch annoyed me.

"Whatever." She said with attitude and then sighed. "I suppose you won't go away until I tell you. Soo… just two waters please."

FINALLY! I was tempted to yell. How long did it take to order water?

I took my time to get her stupid waters, going around refilling a few drinks before getting her water.

By that time her man friend had joined her. He looked vaguely familiar although I couldn't remember where I had seen him before. He looked like he could be her brother. He had cold shark eyes that seemed to stare into my soul.

"Would you like to order now?" I sighed wearily, pulling out my order pad.

"Two house salads please." Alison ordered for both of them while the man just studied me.

"Any dressing?" I asked her.

She made a face. "Eww. NO. I _hate _salad dressing. It goes straight to my hips."

I rolled my eyes and walked away, shoving my order pad back into the pocket of my apron.

God, she's such a bitch. I was so into my thoughts I hardly noticed when I bumped into someone.

"Sorry." I muttered and then continued on my way.

"Whoa, Tifa. What's the matter?" the person said grabbing my arm and halting my progress.

I focused my eyes on the person and saw it was Cloud. "Nothing. Just a bad customer is all." I said, although I was sorely tempted to just throw my arms around him and hug him to me I knew I would get in trouble for it.

Cloud's eyes searched my face. "I have to go, Cloud. I'm sorry. I have to work." I gently pulled my arm out of his grasp and walked away.

I put the order in and brought out some of the other orders that were done.

"Hey, table two is all yours." Cissnei said as she passed by me. "They specifically requested you."

I turned and looked over. Zack, Aerith, Cloud, Reno, Rude, Yuffie, and Vincent all sat at the biggest table our little restaurant had to offer. I rolled my eyes as I walked over.

"Is that Alison over there?" Aerith asked me.

I grimaced. "It is, and lucky me has to deal with her."

"I'm sorry." She said.

"Why? What's the big deal about her? Is she as an old friend of yours?" Zack asked looking between Aerith, Alison and I.

Aerith put a hand on his arm and said "I'll explain once we order. For now, let's just order. I'm sure Tifa has a lot of customers to take care of."

I smiled in thanks at her. "Separate orders?" I asked. They all nodded except Zack who said "I'll pay for Aerith." He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. She blushed and bit her lip. I just grinned at her.

Aerith ordered a salad with ranch dressing and extra tomatoes. Zack ordered a hamburger with fries. Reno and Rude also ordered the hamburger and fries. Yuffie ordered the chicken strips and fries. Cloud decided to go with the spicy shrimp, after I suggested it. Vincent just went with a plate of fries.

Nodding once, I left their table and went to submit their orders.

I brought out the orders that had piled up and distributed them among the tables. I managed to serve Alison and her guest and get away unscathed.

Her guest kept watching me, however. It was really creepy the way he would just outright stare at me,

Cloud and the rest of the group had come in near the end of lunch hour so it was emptying out when I brought them their orders. "Thanks, Tifa." They said when I put their plates down in front of them. Cloud was sitting on the end of the booth and drew me onto his lap.

"When do you get off babe?" he whispered in my ear.

I glanced at the clock. "30 minutes." I told him.

"Ok. I'll wait for you to get off your shift." He said.

"Ok. Thanks." I said smiling at him.

He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and then let me get off his lap. I went around the restaurant refilling drinks.

I swung by Alison's table, because despite how much I hated her she was still a customer.

"Who is that guy you were talking to?" she asked me, while looking off to the other side of the restaurant. I looked over my shoulder in the direction she was looking at. Cloud. He was having an intense conversation with Vincent.

"My boyfriend." I said adding emphasis on the last part.

She shot me a look and muttered "Not for long."

I pushed down the retort that was coming to my lips and said "Would you like your check now?"

"Yeah." She said distractedly not looking at me. I went to the cash that was near the hostess's station and added up their meal. I brought back their receipt and set it on the table.

I left their table and refilled some more glasses. I walked by my friends table. "You guys need anything?" I asked.

"Nope. I think we're all good." Aerith said, grinning at me.

"Ok." I said.

I left their table and headed back over to Alison's table. Alison and her guest were gone. They hadn't left a tip. What a bitch.

I got one of the bins to put the dirty dishes in, and started clearing the table off.

I had almost cleared the whole table when a commotion at my friends' table drew my attention.

Aerith was standing up, glaring at Alison who was bent over whispering something into Cloud's ear.

"He. Does. Not. Like. You. Why can't you get that through your head, Alison? Is it that surprising to you that someone doesn't like you? News flash: Cloud doesn't go for blonde bimbos like you. That's why he's dating Tifa." Aerith said.

The restaurant was completely silent, everyone's eyes on Aerith and Alison.

"I don't know why you're getting in my face, Aerith. You always act all good, and kind, and sweet but in reality you're just a mean, cold-hearted _bitch_." Alison said.

I dropped the plate I had been holding into the bin and stopped over there.

"Take it back, Alison." I growled.

She didn't look intimidated. "Oh look, Aerith, here's your partner in crime. You two always were the biggest losers in high school."

"Why, because we didn't spread our legs for every guy that came our way? Because we left high school virgins? Because we didn't have three pregnancy scares senior year?" I asked her.

Her face flushed. "It was only two…" she muttered.

"Exactly. You have no honor to defend. Now get the hell out of my face and leave." I said to her.

She glared at me one last time and then turned to Cloud. "If you ever get tired of that poser, you know where to find me."

Cloud looked up at her and said "I wouldn't dream of seeking you out and then popped some shrimp into his mouth.

Her face flushed and she turned around and stalked out of the restaurant.

When she was finally gone I let out a breath that I hadn't known I'd been holding. "Damn. That was intense. I didn't you had it in you, babe." Zack finally said which broke the silence.

Aerith blushed and said "I wasn't going to sit there and let her hit on Cloud right in front of me."

Zack gave her a big kiss on her cheek. "I'm impressed."

I glanced at Cloud who gave me a huge grin. I smiled in return.

"I'm proud of you Tifa." Aerith said to me.

I nodded. "I am too… but I have to get back to work now guys, before I get fired."

I went around the restaurant, giving out receipts and bringing out orders to the customers. A few people told me that they were impressed that I had stood up to Alison.

At the end of my shift I hung up my apron in the kitchen and then went back out to the restaurant. Cloud was the only one left out of all my friends that had stayed behind. The others had had to go back to work.

We walked out of the restaurant holding hands. "I'm proud of you, babe." He said planting a kiss on my cheek when we reached his bike.

I smiled. "Thanks. I like what you did though. You were all like: fuck you bitch. Then you just ate a shrimp. No big deal, you know. Just trying to eat my shrimp." I shrugged like it was nothing.

Cloud threw his head back and laughed. He pulled me closer and kissed me. "You should have heard what she was saying to me. She kept licking my ear too." He shuddered. "I think I might have caught something."

He put his mouth next to my ear and made a gross slurping sound. "So, I hear your name is Cloud. That's a _sexy _name. _Slurp! _Do you want to leave with me? We could go somewhere. _Slurp!_"

I pulled away from him and bent over double laughing my head off. "She did not!" I said when I managed to catch my breath.

He put his hands up. "I _swear_. I can't believe you had to deal with that in high school." I burst out laughing. By the disgusted look on his face I could tell he really felt sorry for me.

"We hated each other in high school." I said. "Luckily, I had Aerith as my friend otherwise there probably would've been more fistfights throughout the years."

"I also had a few enemies in high school, but I don't think any of them was that bad." Cloud said.

"No one leaves high school unscathed." I said seriously. Cloud nodded. "I know what you mean. Even the popular kids don't have as good a time as they'd like everyone to believe."

I smiled at him. "Sometimes, it feels like we've known each other forever."

"How so?" he asked me.

"Well, it's like we know each other so well. We've only known each other for technically three months. But it feels like so much longer than that." I explained.

He thought for a few seconds and then took both of my hands in his and pulled me closer until I was right up against him.

I tilted my head back so I could look him in the eye.

"You're right. And I hope we spend even more time together because I really, really, really," he paused and a smile took over his face. I couldn't help but smile in return. "_Really _like you."

He lowered his head and our lips met. I felt my heart swell and it felt like it was going to explode or something. God, I really loved this guy.

"I lo- like you, too, Cloud." I said when we broke apart. I had almost told him I loved him. What if I told him but he didn't say it back. I just had to wait until he said it first.

There was something in his eyes that made me wonder if he had caught what I was about to say. It almost seemed like… panic, but then it was gone so fast I wasn't sure if I had seen it or not.

He gestured to the bike and said "So where do you want to go?"

I shrugged. "I don't care. As long as I get to spend time with you." I grimaced. "That was really cheesy."

He laughed. "It's ok."

We got on the bike and Cloud started driving somewhere. I wasn't paying attention. I had suddenly remembered that we going to Wildcat this weekend.

I tapped on Cloud's shoulder and he drove for a few minutes before he stopped at a gas station.

"What?" he asked me after he had pushed his visor up on his helmet.

"Well, since we're going to Wildcat this weekend I was wondering if we could go shopping for some clothes." I said.

He nodded. "Sure." He pushed the plastic that was his visor back down and then he started driving us in the direction of the mall.

It only took a few minutes for us to get to the mall. Cloud parked the motorcycle and we hurried inside. It had gotten chilly out.

We went in through Dillard's and hurried through that store to the middle of the mall.

"I could really go for some fries right now." I groaned, rubbing my stomach.

"Do you want to get some?" he asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah, I haven't had anything to eat yet."

We headed over to the food court and got some fries from Arby's. I pretty much inhaled the all of them. It didn't fill me up completely, but it was enough to take the edge off of my hunger.

We walked through the mall until we stopped in front of a dimly lit store.

"_This _is where we're going shopping?" I asked him.

"Unless you think you can get club clothes somewhere else." He said giving me a look.

I rolled my eyes. The store we were in front of was notorious for its slutty and expensive clothes. Let's just say, this is where Alison had bought most of her clothes. Yeah, that's how bad it is.

I sighed, tightened my grip on Cloud's hand and then entered the store.

"Hello, do you need help finding something?" asked a snooty looking lady the second we stepped into the store.

I opened my mouth to say no when Cloud cut in and said "We're looking for something for her to wear to a club." He pushed me forward a little so the lady could look me up and down. The disdain on her face was clear to see and I tried not to say something that would get us kicked out of the store.

She led us around the store looking for some dresses, shirts, and pants that would be club acceptable.

The first shirt she pulled off the rack seemed really low cut. "Something not too revealing please." I said.

She frowned and put it back on the rack and looked around for some less revealing clothes.

She eventually found enough clothes that I could try on in the back room.

I pushed Cloud down on a chair and went into one of the dressing rooms. The first shirt I tried on exposed what seemed like all of my boobs. I quickly decided that one was out.

The next one wasn't so bad. It was white and tied behind the back of my neck. It went down in a V and had a small knot at the bottom of the V. There were ruffles going down beneath the V. It was really pretty.

I pulled on a pair of really tight ripped jeans and went to Cloud.

His eyes grew wide and I tried to hide my blush. "How do I look?" I asked him.

"Amazing…" he breathed. I felt my cheeks grow even warmer.

"Um…" I said and turned around and ran into the dressing room.

I took off my clothes and pulled on the next shirt. It was black with rips on the shoulders and some on the front to reveal my cleavage. It wasn't totally revealing but it was more revealing than I was used to. I pulled on some dark wash jeans that were also tight; however, these jeans had no rips in them.

I went out to Cloud and turned slowly for him. "This just keeps getting better and better." He said, leaning back in the chair and putting his hands behind his head. He had apparently composed himself.

I rolled my eyes and headed back into the dressing room.

The rest of the clothes I tried on were all too revealing and slutty. I sighed and took the two outfits that I had first tried on first out to Cloud.

"I didn't show you any of the other clothes because they were _way _to revealing, and I need to keep my dignity intact." I said with a grin.

"I'm sure you would've looked really hot in them… but I'm also sure they would've looked even better on my floor." He said with a smirk.

My cheeks suddenly felt like they were a million degrees. We headed to the cash and the total for two outfits was astounding.

I eyed the clothes sadly – I actually liked them – and sighed. "Here." Cloud said offering the woman his credit card.

I opened my mouth to protest and he put his hand over my mouth "Just accept my gift, Tifa. Let me do this for you."

I thought about protesting but the way he was looking at me told me not to argue. I gave him a look that told him that this wasn't over but that I wouldn't make a big deal of it here.

The lady took his credit card and scanned it. He signed the little electronic gadget thingy and the lady bagged up our – I mean his – purchases.

I took the bag and walked away with Cloud. "Are you mad at me." he asked me once we were outside the store and going back to Dillard's.

I sighed. "I don't know what to think. Part of me is a little mad, but another part is really happy."

"I bet I could make you feel better." He said with a smirk.

I raised my eyebrows. "And how would you do that?" I asked him.

"Oh, you know, with my manly charms." He said with a wink.

"Oh, and would making out be part of your manly charms?" I asked him brazenly.

He gasped and put a hand over his mouth. "How scandalous! Why would you accuse me of such things? I would _never _take advantage like that." His face then relaxed into an easy grin and he pulled me close and whispered in my ear. "But yes… if you want it to be."

I shivered. I hoped he didn't notice what his voice did to me.

We reached the doors of Dillard's and saw white fluff falling down all around.

I gasped and ran up to the glass doors. "Snow!" I breathed. I pushed open the door and ran outside. The snow that we had played in had already melted, so I was really glad to see that it was snowing again.

Cloud had followed me outside. He swore lightly under his breath and pulled out his cell phone. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"I'm calling someone to come pick you up." He said already dialing a number.

"But… why?" I asked surprised.

But he had already started talking to the person on the other end of the phone, telling them to bring their car. He hung up, sighed in relief, and then met my eyes.

"I don't feel… safe driving in this weather with you on the back of my bike. I don't want to hit a patch of ice and us get into an accident." He said finally.

"Oh." I nodded. "I understand." I said.

"Let's go inside and wait for your ride in there. It's cold out here." He said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

We walked back through the glass doors and sat on a bench that faced the doors. I sat right next to him and laid my head against his shoulder. I was suddenly really tired.

I held back a yawn and said "This is nice."

"You sound surprised." I could hear the smile in Cloud's voice as he said that.

"Don't ruin the moment." I said.

He laughed. "Sorry."

I sighed and closed my eyes.

The next thing I knew Cloud was shaking my shoulder and grinning like the cat that ate the canary. "Your ride is here." He said.

I stood up and stretched. I walked outside, where a black car with dark tinted windows sat. It was sleek, and sexy, and probably very, very expensive.

Cloud opened the door for me and I got inside, setting my bag on my lap.

"Oh! Hey, Vincent!" I said.

"Hello, Tifa." He replied with a small smile.

Cloud leaned into the car and said "I'll see you back at the house, ok?"

"Ok." I replied. He gave me a quick kiss and then closed the door and started walking out towards the parking lot.

When he was walking in front of the car, Vincent honked the horn which made Cloud jump a little. I giggled and Vincent smirked at Cloud through the windshield. He flipped us off and kept walking.

Once Cloud was out of the way, Vincent peeled out of the parking lot. I watched the snow fall about outside and leaned my head against the window. I was still groggy. My eyes slipped shut and I fell asleep once more.

I briefly came to – barely – to someone picking me up and bringing me inside. "HE-" someone started to shout before they were cut off by whoever was carrying me quick "Shh! She's asleep!"

"Oh… sorry." The voice whispered. It sounded like Zack's voice. If I had been awake I probably would've rolled my eyes.

I felt whoever was carrying me go down a few hallways and then I was deposited on a bed. The familiar smell alerted me that it was Cloud's bedroom. I felt my shoes being pulled off and then my legs lifted up and then put back down gently. A blanket fell over me and cuddled closer into the warmth.

"Have a good sleep, babe." The voice of an angel whispered, and then I felt the brush of lips against my forehead.

I sighed, and finally fell further into sleep.

***CLOUD***

I took one last longing look at her and heaved a sigh. She was so beautiful it almost hurt. I trailed my fingers along her cheek and then turned my back on her and walked out of the room.

Vincent was leaning on the wall across from the door to my room with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Have you found anything?" I asked him.

"Not yet, but I have all my people working on finding out who did it. Are you sure she doesn't have any enemies that might have done this?" he asked me, wrinkling his brow.

"Well… you saw what happened the other day in the restaurant. Do you think that girl might have been vicious enough to do something like this?" I asked him.

Vincent thought about it. "They certainly acted as if they hated each other… but I don't think the woman would've gone that far. What about you? Do you have anyone that might do this?"

I ran a hand through my spikes, something I only did when I was agitated or worried. "Sure, I do. I work for SOLDIER, after all. But… none of them know _who _I am. None of them could have connected me to Tifa. Unless it was someone inside Shinra… I know Rufus isn't very pleased with me, no matter what I do. Even though I've never met the guy I can tell he dislikes me by the amount and difficulty of missions he sends me on." I said.

"So you think it might be, Rufus?" Vincent asked me, clarifying.

I shrugged. "I don't know, Vince. Maybe. There are just so many things we don't know."

Vince scowled and I saw his hands ball into fists. "Whoever did this needs to be caught. Tifa deserves that peace of mind. When I find the bastard that did this to her…" he trailed off. I was shocked. I had never seen Vincent not calm. He was always cool and collected even when others weren't. But this thing with Tifa seemed to be upsetting him more than he originally let on.

"Why… why are you getting so worked up about this, Vince?" I asked him cautiously.

Vincent shot me a surprised look and said "You of all people should understand. Tifa is… special. She has something about her that's… pure, honest, whatever. And people like to corrupt someone like her, just so that they can see that innocence shrivel into something black and disgusting."

"Are you… attracted to her?" I asked quietly. He seemed shocked again, but his face quickly fell into a blank look.

"Who wouldn't be attracted to her? She's beautiful; inside and out. So yes, I _am _attracted to her. But I'm your friend, Cloud. I would never do anything to… break our friendship." He said.

I nodded but then caught his eye and grinned. "She is pretty hot. I don't blame you. Sometimes it's really hard to, um, restrain myself… especially when she decides to tease me."

Vincent just shook his head, a small smile gracing his lips. He seemed to remember something and asked "Did Tifa tell you I was coming to Wildcat this weekend?"

I thought back but couldn't recall her mentioning it to me. I shook my head slowly. "How did she manage to convince you, man? I've been trying to get you to go for, like, years."

"Well, I told her I've never dated before, and she insisted that I tag along with you guys. She told me she was going to help me get a girl with the use of," he grimaced and I could tell he didn't really like the thought of whatever it was. "_Pick up lines._"

I laughed out loud. Tifa would be the one to come up with a stupid idea like that one.

The disgust was evident in his voice as he said "Don't laugh. I didn't want to offend so I agreed to take her 'advice'."

I couldn't stop laughing. The idea of Vincent using pick up lines of all things to hook up with a girl was hilarious.

"Shut up." He said, and punched me in the shoulder.

I managed to compose myself and said "Who knew a _girl _would be the one to bring out all your weaknesses. It's kind of ironic since girls _are _your weakness."

I swear a blush entered his cheeks then, but he looked down at the floor to fast before I could look carefully. He got serious again and said "I'm going to check in with my guys in the field. See if they've come up with anything. I'll see you later, Cloud."

I waved and headed back into my bedroom.

Tifa was sprawled out across the bed, something I noticed that she did when I wasn't in bed with her.

I took off my jeans and pulled off my shirt. I rummaged around in one of my drawers until I pulled out a pair of pajama pants. I pulled them on and then climbed into bed next to her.

She appeared to be having some kind of dream and I heard her sigh my name. Dreaming about me? I was a flattered. I pulled her body flush with mine, until we were spooning. She wriggled a bit and when she had gotten comfortable, she relaxed.

I sighed and closed my eyes, willing myself to fall asleep. I soon accomplished my goal and fell into a dark dreamless sleep.

***TIFA***

_"You're being sent out." A firm voice told me. _

_ "I am?" I asked. I had figured I would only be tested on, like some kind of overgrown lab rat. _

_ "Yes. You are to come with me to be briefed." The guard said, and opened my cage door. Alright, it was more of a cell but it might as well have been a cage hanging a thousand off the ground surrounded by ocean. That cage probably would've been easier to get out off than this one. At least I would've had fresh air. _

_ I walked out of my cell and followed him down the dimly lit corridor. "Try anything, and you'll be sedated." He warned as we walked along. _

_ "What a nightmare that would be!" I said sarcastically. I saw him roll his eyes but I caught the small uplift of his lips as he tried not to smile. He soon schooled his face back into an emotionless mask. I had seen it however, and I felt better knowing that he wasn't a robot and that he actually had a heart. _

_ He led me along several more dim corridors that were lined with cells. A few had prisoners in them, and most of them looked half dead. _

_ We finally reached a heavy, locked metal door. It had a keypad and a mechanical key. I observed all of this in case I ever made an escape attempt. _

_ The guard blocked the keypad from my view while he typed in the code. A beep sounded and then he inserted the key into the lock and unlocked the door. The sound of that bolt turning was the sound of freedom. I was tempted to make a break for it, but then decided I'd wait and see if I could find a little more about this prison. _

_ We walked through the door and I saw that there were several more guards standing outside the door. I would've been detained if I had taken one step out of this door without my guard. _

_ We walked past them and into a more brightly lit hallway. My eyes quickly adjusted and I noticed that we were walking past a lot of what looked like office doors. _

_ Where the hell was I? What building had a prison, science labs, offices and who knew what else inside of it? My mind drew a blank. I looked around for an insignia or logo of any kind but couldn't see anything. _

_ We reached a bank of elevators and my guard pushed the up button. We waited a few minutes for the elevator to get there. An awkward silence rested between us and I decided to try and break it. _

_ "So when you applied for this job was one of the requirements: able to subdue young girls, and escort them to mysterious places?" I asked. _

_ "Shut up." He said, just as the elevators dinged. _

_ "Add rude to that list." I replied. I knew goading him might be harmful to my health but I wanted to see if he would drop his guard and reveal anything important. _

_ "I like my job." He said angrily. _

_ "Yes, I'm sure not every job offers being able to torture someone else as one of its perks. I bet you even get a good dental plan." I couldn't help but be sarcastic. _

_ He gritted his teeth. "Shut. Up." _

_ I decided to back off a bit before he decided to sedate me to shut me up and said "Do you have any family?" _

_ He looked surprised at my change and subject and paused before answering. "None of your business." He finally said. _

_ We had entered the elevator by now. As he pressed the top floor button a mechanical sounding voice said "Purpose of visit?" _

_ "This is Kunsel bringing up a Ms. Tifa Lockhart for an appointment with the director." The guard said. _

_ There was a pause before the mechanical voice replied "Elevator going up to LEVEL 31." _

_ We felt the elevator start to move up. I leaned back against one of the walls and watched the guard. _

_ "Kunsel, huh? Is that Polish or something?" I asked. _

_ He paused. "I-I don't know." _

_ "Well that's disappointing. You should find out." I said. _

_ He frowned at me and said "Listen, I don't care about you. I'm only trying to do my job and right now you're annoying me. A lot. So if you would just shut up it would make my job a lot easier." _

_ I put on a fake hurt look. "But Kunsel… I thought we were just getting to know each other and you want me to… shut up? No wonder you're not very good with the ladies." _

_ His hands balled into fists. Right now he was probably resisting the urge to punch me. "You remind me of my sister." He muttered. _

_ My eyebrows shot up in surprise and I was just about to ask him about her when the elevator must have reached the 31st floor. _

_ The doors dinged open and we stepped out into an office that reminded me of Cloud's office. Cloud. Would I ever see him again? Feel his lips on mine? Feel him wrap his arms around me and- _

_ I was jolted out of my thoughts by Kunsel shoving me forward. I stumbled a few steps and glared at him. I walked forward on my own straight up to the desk. _

_ I recognized this room as the one I had first been taken to when I had been kidnapped. _

_ I scowled at the guy sitting behind the desk. Same blonde hair, same shark eyes, same creepy feeling to him. At least some things don't change. _

_ "The scientists tell me you have been responding well to all of your tests. Mental physical and emotional." He said. _

_ "Great. Now I can live my life to the fullest now that I have their opinion on my personality and body." I said sarcastically. _

_ "You still have your sarcasm. It's good to know that you haven't broken yet." The way he said that made me think that he didn't expect it to be much longer before I lost my spirit. Well, he'd certainly be surprised. I was stronger than people gave me credit for. _

_ "So where am I going?" I asked him, trying to get down to business; might as well not beat around the bush. _

_ "On a mission." He answered. _

_ "A mission? … Like the one's Cloud goes on?" I asked. _

_ "Exactly like those… Except yours won't be nearly as difficult." Shark eyes answered. _

_ "This is surprising. You must not know the rules of abduction. When you abduct someone you're not supposed to send them on **missions**. That's not exactly a good idea." I explained slowly as if I were talking to a child. _

_ Shark eyes scowled at me. "Oh. I'm not sending you alone. You're going with one of my top operatives. He's going more as back up and to keep an eye on you." _

_ "I'm never backup, Rufus." A voice said to my left. _

_ My head whipped around and I stared at a guy that I hadn't noticed before. He was leaning against the wall and had his nose buried in a large book. LOVELESS was written clearly across the cover. Oh no, not another LOVELESS fan. Those guys can be pretty freaky and obsessive. _

_ "**Pride is lost/ Wings stripped away, the end is nigh**… when I am back-up." He quoted and snapped the book closed. He tucked into some hidden pocket in his long, red jacket. I then noticed the huge red sword that he had with him. It looked like it could cleave me in half. It was probably almost as big as I was too. _

_ He had long red hair that brushed the collar of his jacket and slightly fell into his light blue-green eyes. _

_ "So this is the new lab rat." He said walking over to me. He walked around me once, inspecting me. "Could be better." He finally said. _

_ "This is Tifa's mission, Genesis. You are just keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn't do anything… stupid." Shark eyes – or should I say Rufus – explained. _

_ "Hmm, yes, well, I'm sure she'll do fine. There has got to be better things for me to do than babysit." Genesis said. _

_ "Look, it's not exactly my ideal job either; stop being such a jackass about it though. You sound arrogant and already I can tell you don't have many friends." I said putting my hands on my hips. _

_ Genesis looked at me in shock. He seemed like the type of person that people often didn't stand up too, at least not for very long. _

_ I thought he might retaliate by pulling out his huge ass sword out and slicing me up a bit but all he did was sigh and say "Why do you always give me the difficult people to deal with? Why not give her to Sephiroth or Angeal?" _

_ "They're both away on missions. Now go and help Tifa get prepared for her mission." Rufus said and waved us both off. _

_ Genesis heaved a sigh again and said "Come along then, might as well get this over with." _

_ I followed him to the elevator. I hadn't noticed but apparently Kunsel had left. What a shame, we were just becoming friends too. _

_ We only had to wait a few moments for the elevator to arrive. We entered it and Genesis pressed the 23 button. _

_ The doors slid shut. Genesis and I stood on opposite sides of the elevator. We were both leaning against the walls with our arms crossed across our chests. _

_ "Something tells me this is going to be a long mission." He sighed, finally breaking the silence. _

_ "I think I'll thoroughly enjoy myself." I said sarcastically. _

_ Genesis just heaved a sigh and muttered under his breath "**There is no hate only joy/ For you are beloved by the goddess.**" _

_ "Why do you like that story? It's so… cliché." I asked him. I had read it once and found it very boring. It had quite the fan base which completely dumbfounded me. _

_ Genesis looked offended. "LOVELESS is a work of art. Do not insult it!" _

_ I cringed back against the wall a little. This guy could get a little scary when he was offended. _

_ "Sorry, dude. Just chill with the quotes and all that. Not everyone shares your…" I was tempted to say obsession but instead went with "Appreciation for the story." _

_ "How else am I to express my passion for such a work of art but through recitation of its enchanting lines?" he asked me. _

_ "I don't know. Write fanfiction or something. Maybe go to a convention for LOVELESS and nerd out there or something." I suggested. _

_ He looked confused. "Fan… fiction?" _

_ I opened my mouth to answer but the elevator doors opened and we stepped out into the room beyond. _

_ The room looked like a lounge. It had a large flat screen TV on the wall. Several comfortable looking couches and chairs were spread out in front of it. There was a low bookshelf beneath the TV that held all sorts of movies. A DVD player sat on top of the bookshelf. _

_ Around the lounge there were several marked doors. One said TESTING another said TRAINING, and the third said EQUIPMENT. _

_ Genesis walked towards the door that said EQUIPMENT. He held the door open for me as I walked through. I gave him a nod of thanks and looked around. _

_ On one wall were racks and racks of assorted guns and swords. I even saw a few crossbow looking weapons. On another wall there were all different types and sizes of armor. Then on the third wall were all types of accessories, such as, healing potions, bandages, ammunition, extra straps, etc. _

_I felt a little lost. What was I supposed to get. I didn't even know what my mission was. _

_ Thinking of that I turned to Genesis. "What exactly is our mission anyway?" I asked him. _

_ "Apparently professional thieves are stealing from this company. They want us to go, find these thieves and neutralize them. And if possible get back the stolen goods." He explained. _

_ I thought about it. "So what exactly will I need?" I asked him. I was drawing a total blank here. _

_ "First you'll need a back-pack." He said, squatting down and opening a cabinet. It was full of backpacks and assorted bags. He pulled out a plain black one and handed it to me. I took it from him and put it on my back. _

_ "You're file said that you are exceptional with the sword so that's what you'll be getting. And last but not least you need a few materials." He said. _

_ He chose a long double-sided sword from the wall and held it in his hand for a moment before handing it to me. _

_ I tested it to see if it was balanced. It felt perfect. I held onto it. _

_ Genesis was inspecting the wall of accessories. He pulled a few bottles off the wall and several foil packages. He also pulled off a mini first-aid kit. He handed them to me and said "Need anything else?" _

_ I thought about it and then saw the leather gloves hanging from a peg. I reached up and unhooked them from the peg. I rubbed one of the fingers between my thumb and index finger. The material felt soft yet durable. I tucked them into one of the outside pockets of my backpack and then nodded to Genesis. _

_ He eyed the sword still in my hand and said "There's a place on your backpack for that." he took it from me and slid it between my back and the backpack. It hooked onto something and stayed there. _

_ I reached back over my shoulder and adjusted it until it was slanted slightly to the left. "Thanks." I said. _

_ He quickly got a few things off the wall, but I noticed that he didn't grab a backpack. "No backpack?" _

_ He shook his head and pulled open his jacket showing me the various pockets that lined the inside. "Pockets." He explained. _

_ That was actually a pretty good idea. I kind of wished I had a jacket like that. If I got into battle I'd probably have to take off my back-pack, which would waste precious seconds. _

_ After having grabbed all the things we needed he walked out of the room and back into the lounge. There was a man with long, gorgeous silver hair. Honestly, it looked better than mine. I was instantly envious. _

_ Even though he had silver hair he only looked like he was twenty-five or so. He had on black boots with silver buckles. The rest of his outfit was covered by a long leather jacket with silver buckles running along the opening. He had weird silver shoulder pads or something. His jacket was half open and I could see a pale chest. He looked pretty built. Oh, and did I forget to mention huge sword that was longer than I was tall? It was pretty badass, but the way he carried it around was so nonchalant it made him seem even sexier. _

_ "Hello, Sephiroth." Genesis said. It seemed that these two were friends. _

_ The name sounded familiar to me and I realized it was because Genesis had mentioned him earlier in Shark Eyes' – Rufus' – office. Hadn't he mentioned someone else too? Angel or some gay name like that. _

_ "Rufus told me you were away on a mission." Genesis was saying. _

_ "I just got back." Sephiroth replied. He glanced at me and then looked at Genesis again. "New recruit?" he asked. _

_ "Next mission." Genesis explained. _

_ "I thought you were past babysitting, Genesis. You've really gone down in the world. Is she VIP?" he teased. _

_ "More like a hostage." I piped up. I didn't like the way they were talking about me as if I wasn't even here. _

_ Sephiroth's eyebrows flicked up. "She seems like a handful." He said to Genesis, completely ignoring me. _

_ "Trust me. She is." Genesis said with a small grin. _

_ Finally Sephiroth turned to me and said "I feel a little sorry for you. Going on a mission with Genesis isn't anyone's idea of fun. Not with him quoting that God awful book every minute." _

_ I grinned. "I think if I complain enough he'll eventually stop. Or maybe I should bring some duct tape just in case my first idea doesn't work out." _

_ A small smile raised the corners of his mouth and said "I think she'll be good for you, Genesis. She certainly has enough spirit to rival your own." _

_ "I don't think I'd use the word 'good' in this case." Genesis replied drily. _

_ Before he could reply, Sephiroth's phone started trilling. "No rest for the wicked I suppose." He sighed. _

_ "We'll be off then." Genesis said and paused for a moment "**Even if the morrow is barren of promises/ Nothing shall forestall my return**." _

_ "Act five." They said together and then Sephiroth answered his phone and Genesis walked away. _

_ I looked between them for a moment and then quickly caught up with Genesis. _

_ Sephiroth and Genesis seemed to have a familiarity about them that suggested years of friendship. I wondered how long they'd been friends for. I thought about asking but Genesis said "We're to take a car to where the thieves were last seen, and take whatever further action is necessary." _

_ We took an elevator to the garage level. It was chilly in the garage, and I wondered how long I'd been abducted for. All the times I'd been sedated had screwed up my internal clock. Through the openings in the garage I saw that it was daylight outside, probably still morning. _

_ Genesis stalked through row after row of cars and finally found the one he was looking for. I recognized the Lexus symbol. The car itself was black and the windows were tinted, shielding the interior of the car from my view. He opened the door which was already unlocked and got in. I hurried over to the passenger side and got in. I put my backpack on the floor between my feet. There was a built in GPS on the dash. _

_ After he turned on the car, Genesis took a minute to plug in an address. _

_ When the mechanical voice said "Calculating… No signal…" _

_ Genesis sighed and pulled out of the spot. He drove through the garage and when he reached the lowest level a tunnel stretched before us. He drove into the dimly tunnel, the only light coming from the high-powered headlights on the car, widely spread, dim lights that hardly offered any light at all. _

_ The tunnel took so many twists and turns I soon grew a little queasy. I shut my eyes and laid my head back against the headrest. _

_ "You ok?" Genesis asked me. He was probably worried that I was about to throw up. _

_ "Yeah, just a little carsick. I can handle it though. Don't worry about it." I said. _

_ Genesis didn't say anything else and I cracked open one of my eyes so I could look at him. Both his hands were gripping the wheel at a ten-to-two position and his eyes stared straight ahead. _

_ Suddenly, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. I felt really grateful that my suffering was almost over. Which was kind of ironic since light at the end of a tunnel is symbolized with death, but, yeah…_

_ When we were outside I rolled my window down and sucked in as much as the cold winter air as I could. I looked behind us and saw that we were outside the city. I saw the tallest building in the city – the Shinra building – rise up in the distance. I turned back around in my seat and looked ahead. _

_ We were on a paved road with trees all around. "Are you ready to start your first mission?" Genesis asked me. _

_ I looked over at him, the strong lines of his body and face and I hoped that if anything bad happened he would have my back. _

_ "As ready as I'll ever be." I replied. _

My eyes flicked open and I stared up at the ceiling. So much had happened… had it all just been a dream or was these dreams my memories surfacing. This was the third dream I had had that were like that. And they seemed so real and… vivid.

"You look like you're thinking really hard about something." A voice beside me said.

I jumped a little and looked over. Moonlight streamed in through his windows which allowed me to see Cloud clearly. He was shirtless, lying on his stomach with his head cushioned on a pillow and watching me.

I instantly decided not to tell him – or anyone for that matter – about my dreams. "Just thinking about today is all." I lied, and felt really bad for it.

I half-expected him to catch me in my lie and spring up and start yelling at me, but all he did was smile easily and say "Today was pretty nice… but any day spent with me is nice."

I rolled my eyes. "Glad to see even half-awake you still have your usual attitude."

"I'm not half-awake." He said.

"What do you mean?" I asked confused.

"I've been awake for a while now." He explained.

"You have?" I replied dubiously. "What have you been doing then?" I asked him.

"Watching you sleep of course." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's a little creepy, you know that right? You're like that guy from the vampire series except way hotter." I said.

He grinned. "I try… but I like watching you sleep. Even unconscious you still have a whole range of motions that go across your face. Depending on your dream I would guess."

I didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing so I didn't reply. "Come on. If you had the chance don't tell me you wouldn't stare at me while I was asleep. Of course I'd probably wake up before long and ruin your view but still…" he trailed off.

"I guess you're right." I finally admitted.

I turned on my side so that I was facing him more directly. With the moonlight playing across his bare back his skin looked luminescent. He almost didn't look real, like this was some kind of fantasy that I'd dreamed up. Maybe I should poke him just to make sure he was real.

I reached out hesitantly and gently traced my fingers down the ridges of his spine. He shivered a little and goosebumps rose up.

I smirked. "Cold?"

He blushed a little and shook his head. "What is it, then?" Even though I already knew the answer I just wanted to hear him say it.

"With you… touching me like that it's… it feels really good." He said slowly.

My smirk grew. I traced his shoulder blades and I felt him tense up before he relaxed.

I traced down his side and he shied away from me. "Ticklish?" he nodded and I went after the spot.

He flipped over on his stomach and held me off. Now, I was practically straddling him. Both my hands were held in one of his and his other hand was tracing slow circles on my hip.

I remembered going to bed in my jeans but now they were gone leaving me in my t-shirt, underwear and bra. I raised my eyebrows at me and he raised one eyebrow back. Damn, I was jealous. I had always wished I could do that.

I managed to get one hand free and started tracing the lines of his well built chest. I traced the little indent between his pecs and went down to his abs, possibly my favorite part of his body besides his eyes, smile and hair.

He flexed for me and I tickled his side. "Show off." I said. He laughed and let go of my other hand and put his hand on my hip.

Now since both my hands were free I had pretty much complete control… as long as I didn't get too distracted by his hands on my hips. Hands that were really warm and big and tracing geometric designs on my hip bones.

No! Concentrate, Tifa. You are the one in control here.

I traced around his abs and counted the muscles "One… two… three… four… five… six! You, my lovely friend, have a beautiful six-pack." I said.

"I know it's pretty hot, huh? The ladies love it. What about you? What are you hiding under that shirt of yours?" His hand slipped under the hem of my t-shirt and he watched my face closely for any sign to stop.

He poked my belly button and I giggled. Suddenly, I was on my back and he was the one straddling me. He wasn't that heavy but still enough to keep me from easily flipping us back over.

He pushed up my shirt just until the edge of my bra and stopped. He looked down at me and I bit my lip, hoping he liked what he saw.

He looked me in the eye and said "Damn girl! You so sexy! Why you no model?" he asked in a fake accent. I burst out laughing.

He tickled me and I squealed, trying to get away from him. But there was no escape. He grabbed my hands and held them above my head while he slipped down my body.

His face hovered right over my stomach and he met my eyes with an evil grin. I realized what he was going to do. "No. No, Cloud. Do- AHAHAHAHAHA!" he blew on my stomach and I almost peed my pants it tickled so badly.

I could feel his body shaking against mine as he slid back up to his original position.

"Th-that's not f-funny." I gasped trying to catch my breath. In response, he lowered his mouth onto mine.

I knew what he was trying to do but it wasn't going to work that easily. Sure, it was really distracting but it. Was. Not. Going. To. Work.

I broke away from him by turning my head to the side. I realized I was panting and I tried evening my breathing. Really, it was almost embarrassing how much he affected me.

Cloud continued kissing me, except he'd moved down to my neck. "What you're, um, trying to do isn't going to work." I informed him.

"Are you sure you know what my intentions are?" he asked me giving me a look.

"Pretty sure." I replied.

"And what do you think my intentions are?" he asked me. His tongue swirled over my collarbone and I completely lost my train of thought.

"W-what?" I asked intelligently. Inwardly I sighed. Now he knew he had control. Control! That's what it was!

"You want control." I said, more sure of myself.

He sighed and his breath made the spot where he had licked me cold. I suppressed a shiver.

"You got me." he replied.

He slid up my body a little until he was hovering over me. He tenderly traced a hand down my face.

"I can never hide anything from you can I?" he asked me, but it was almost as if he were talking to himself too.

"Nope." I grinned.

He pouted and said "It seems like I'm always guessing about you though. You'll do or say something that will make me think I have you all figured out and then you'll do or say something else that will make me completely confused."

"I think it's better if you _don't _know the way my mind works. It's probably best for everyone if only I knew the way my mind worked." I told him.

He grinned. "Yeah, probably."

He rolled us over so that I was resting on his chest. I reached up and ran my hands through his hair. "I love your hair."

"Thanks." He smirked.

I fingered one of his spikes. It was silky smooth. "No, I'm serious. You have beautiful hair. It's like a work of art."

"Well, you know. I try." He said sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes. "Asshole." I muttered.

"Slut." He replied.

Oh… so he wanted to play that game huh?

"Skank."

"Bitch."

"Douche bag."

"Prostitute."

"Harlot."

"Whore."

"Bastard."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Hahahahaha! I win!" I said. He scowled.

"It's ok, baby. One of us has to wear the pants in this relationship." I teased.

He just laughed. "And you think that's going to be you, huh?"

"Yep. But don't worry I'll let you have some moments of your own too." I said resting my head on his chest. He put his hand under my back and slowly rubbed circles. I was almost in the clutches of sleep when he said "I'll give you everything you could ever want, baby."

I was awake enough to ask "What about your heart?"

He pressed a kiss to the top of my head and said "You've had it since we first danced at Wildcat. Now, sleep."

I spiraled into the darkness, comforted by Cloud's hand still rubbing circles on my back.

The rest of the week passed pretty quickly. I would go to work until after lunch rush and then hang out with Cloud for the rest of the day.

Cloud and I did a lot of things together during that time. We went back to Amanda's café – I returned her book that day. We played board games. We watched tons of movies. And we made out. A lot. Probably more than our fair share but it was like we were addicted to each other, and in all fairness it was really, really easy to get addicted to Cloud Strife's touch.

I didn't have any more dreams that week, which both relieved me and bothered me. I was now curious about what happened during my mission.

But soon, it was Saturday and Aerith, Yuffie and I were getting ready at our apartment. I noticed the dust that had gathered on everything. We had hardly been here all week. We practically lived at Cloud and Zack's house anyway. Maybe we should just make the jump and move in already.

We had decided ahead of time that we would meet the boys at the club. I felt a little bad about Yuffie not having anyone. "Hey Yuff." I said, walking into her room where she was applying mascara to her already thick lashes.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You know, I feel a little bad. Aerith and I are always going out with Cloud and Zack and you're always left alone." I was about to go on but Yuffie cut me off right there.

"Tifa, I don't mind. Really, I don't. And besides there _is _someone. We just haven't made it… official yet. I'm waiting for him to get the balls to ask me out." she said, frowning at her reflection in the mirror.

"Why don't you ask him out?" I asked her.

She blushed and looked down at all the cosmetics in front of her mirror. "I-I don't think I could do that. I mean, isn't the boy supposed to do it?" she said nervously.

I almost laughed. "Yuffie are you… _scared_?"

Her head shot up and she glared at me. "No! No. I just… I just think it's better if I wait for him."

"Come on, Yuff. Girl up! You are a strong empowered woman. Take control of this situation and ask him out yourself." I said.

Yuffie was always the confident one, no matter what we were doing. So it was a little weird seeing her nervous about something. "I-I guess I could try… if I manage to get up the nerve."

I put my hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "You can do it, Yuff. I believe in you."

She met my eyes in the mirror and smiled. "Thanks, Tifa. I appreciate it."

I nodded and then left her room. I went back to my room and tried to decide which shirt to wear tonight. Black or white? White or black?

I eventually decided to go with the black one. I wore the jeans that I – Cloud – had bought for the shirt.

I looked in the mirror and decided I looked pretty hot. I put on some black mascara that emphasized my eyes and some gray eyeliner.

I sprayed on some of Rhianna's Rebel Fleur perfume that Aerith had gotten me for my birthday this year.

I had taken a shower earlier and blow dried and straightened my hair so that it was shiny and silky and completely straight. I decided I was ready to go clubbing.

I went out to the kitchen and saw Aerith and Yuffie were already there, ready to go. Both of their eyes widened when they saw me. "Wow, Tifa you look…" Aerith said trailing off.

"Slutty? Whore-like?" I finished for her.

She shook her head. "No! I was going to say amazing. You're completely stunning. Cloud's going to be blown away."

Yuffie grinned at me. "All the guys in the club are going to be all over you." I honestly didn't think I looked _that _good, but I was flattered none-the-less.

We left the apartment then, going through the side door in the lobby to get to the apartment building's garage that held our car.

We piled in the car and Aerith drove us to Wildcat. On the way there we sang and danced to all the songs on the radio. By the time we got to Wildcat and parked in its inconspicuous parking lot we were completely hyped up for tonight.

We went to the front of the building and stood in line for a few minutes before we reached the front. It was still pretty early in the night – only about 10:15 – and not many people were lined up yet.

Rude smiled when he saw us and waved us in for free. I made a mental note to tell Cloud to give him a bonus or something. He stopped me on my way in and said "Cloud is up in his office."

I nodded at him and then headed inside. I skirted around the edge of the dance floor and down towards the elevators that led to the upper levels.

As soon as I pressed the button one of the doors opened and I stepped inside. I pressed three and waited patiently as the elevator went up.

I remembered the last time I had been in Cloud's office. I shivered a little and then told myself to suck it up and just forget about it. An image flashed through my mind as I remembered all the things I'd found in Cloud's drawers. I told myself I'd talk to him about it later but that I would enjoy tonight.

The elevator arrived on the third floor and dinged open. I stepped out and saw Cloud at his desk with Vincent standing in front of it.

I walked forward. They must not have heard the elevator because Cloud didn't look up from a document he was reading and Vincent didn't turn around.

"Is this real?" Cloud asked. I just barely had time to hide in the shadows before Cloud looked up.

"As far as I can tell. I was only able to steal that one sheet. Otherwise they would have caught me." Vincent said.

"I can't believe they put her through these things. It's almost like they were trying to make her SOLDIER or something." Cloud said, running a hand through his spikes. I noticed he did that when something was bothering him. He did it again, and I realized that this must be big.

"I don't know, Cloud. It says she succeeded all her tests exceptionally." Vincent said. "Leave it to her to make those scientists proud."

Cloud smiled slightly.

I stepped forward then. I decided to pretend like I hadn't heard their conversation.

"Hey, Cloud. Hey, Vincent." I said. Cloud's eyes grew wide and when Vincent turned around his eyes swept up and down my body in a really obvious way.

I blushed and crossed my arms over my chest.

Cloud snapped out of it first, although I could still see him eyeing my body. "Tifa I… Wow, you look amazing."

"Thanks." I said, giving him a small smile.

I looked over at Vincent and said "Glad you could make it, Vincent. Are you ready to party hardy?"

He looked a little uneasy and said "Um, I think so?"

"Don't worry, Vincent. We'll take care of you." I said with a wink.

He blushed a little and I grinned. I walked closer to the desk and Cloud. He was stretching and his shirt rode up a little. I eyed the strip of skin that showed. My eyes flicked up to his face to find him watching me. He smirked and I felt my cheeks heat up a little.

I took in his whole outfit and frowned. "Is that what you're wearing?" he was wearing a ratty green t-shirt and some baggy jeans.

"Ugh, Cloud. Go home and change. Take a shower too. Your spikes are starting to deflate."

I glanced over at Vincent. "Ugh, you too, Vincent?" I asked him. He was wearing what he had the first time we met. "You're going to be burning up."

I sighed. "Cloud you go home. I'm going to go with Vincent and help him get sexy since he obviously is helpless on his own. You better come back looking nice." I warned.

He rolled his eyes but nodded. "Good." I walked closer and leaned in. He gave me a lingering kiss, but I was the one that pulled away.

I glanced over at Vincent who looked a little uncomfortable. "Come on, Vincent. Let's go."

He followed me to the elevator. I waved at Cloud and he waved back just in time before the doors closed.

"How far away is your apartment or house or whatever?" I inquired.

"Only about fifteen minutes." He replied.

"Ok." I said.

When the doors opened he led me to a door near the elevators that I hadn't noticed before. When we stepped outside of it I realized we were in a garage. I saw Cloud's, Zack's, and Vincent's bikes there. Vincent walked over to his bike. He eyed me up and down and then took off his cloak thing. He handed it to me.

"Thanks." I said.

He nodded and then got on the bike. I got on behind him and put on his extra helmet. He pushed a button on his bike and the garage door opened.

He drove out of it and pressed the same button and the door closed after us.

The drive went by pretty quickly. Vincent apparently had an apartment in an old house near the bad end of town. The house was really big, but quite nice. It was just old.

He parked the bike in the driveway and then got off and went to the front door.

I followed him up a staircase to the second floor. Apparently his apartment consisted of the second floor and the attic.

He turned around and looked at me. "Now what?" he asked. I reached up and felt his hair. It was silky and didn't look to bad. "Couldn't keep your hands off me, huh?" he said with a grin.

I punched his chest, which didn't seem to hurt him and said "Your hair seems fine. Show me where you keep your clothes."

He led me up to the attic. Of course Vincent would sleep in the attic. It was chilly up here. I rubbed my arms under his cloak. He pointed to some dressers along one of the walls. There was a window above one of the dressers that showed a view of the street.

I looked outside and then started looking through his drawers.

I found where he kept all his pants. I dug out a pair of black jeans that I'm sure would look perfect on him. I found a light blue button up shirt and a white V-neck shirt to go underneath.

I handed him the clothes. "Go put these on. Actually, I'll be downstairs. Come see me when you're done."

I walked down the stairs and leaned against one of the walls. I didn't have to wait long for Vincent. He was a pretty fast changer.

I groaned when I saw him. "Let me fix this." I said. I untucked his shirt and unbuttoned it revealing the white undershirt. Thank God he didn't have a hairy chest otherwise the V-neck t-shirt would have been very unattractive. I also rolled up his sleeves for him.

I looked down at his feet which didn't have any shoes on them. "Hmm… do you have any shoes besides your boots?" he shook his head.

"Well then that's what you're wearing then." I sighed. He ran back up to the attic to get them. He came back down with them in hand.

"Put them on and try tucking your jeans into them." I suggested.

He did as I said. It didn't look too bad. "Now take them out." he did as I asked. Now that looked stupid.

"Ok, tuck them back in." I said. He did that.

"Alright, looks like we're ready to go." I said and started walking back downstairs.

"Tifa, wait." He said. I stopped and turned around and looked at him.

"I- I don't really know how to dance." He confessed.

"Oh." I smiled. "That's the easy part. All you gotta do is put your hands on her hips and move your body with hers. Don't worry once you do it you'll understand what I mean."

He still looked uncertain but then he looked at me and took a deep breath. "Ok. Let's go."

We went back out to his bike. I suddenly realized that he didn't have a jacket. "You need a jacket." I said.

He shook his head. "It's fine. It's a short drive. I've had worse before."

I was about to protest but the look on his face was determined I sighed but said "Fine, but if you get sick don't come crying to me."

He grinned. "I won't." We got on the bike and rode back to Wildcat. It didn't seem like it took fifteen minutes to get back. It felt a lot shorter than that.

But anyway, when we arrived in the garage Cloud was there waiting.

I tore off my helmet, jumped off the back and ran up to him. I threw my arms around him and snuggled against his chest.

"Whoa." He said, laughing a little but still wrapping his arms around me. "What's with all the enthusiasm?" he asked.

I looked up at him and said "I missed you. And you look pretty hot. I couldn't resist." He did look hot. Scorching in fact. He wore black jeans that hugged his legs in all the right places. He wore a blue shirt that matched the color of his eyes. It was open over a white V-neck t-shirt. His shoes were black Vans.

I laughed. "You guys match." Cloud surveyed Vincent and grinned. "That we do."

I kissed the part of his chest that was revealed by the V-neck because I couldn't reach his mouth. I stepped back then and took off Vincent's cloak. "Here you go. Thanks for letting me borrow it." I said, handing it to him.

"No problem." He replied and took it from me. He turned around and put it on his bike.

Cloud and I snuck a quick kiss while his back was turned, and shared a conspiratorial grin when he turned back around.

"You guys ready to party?" Cloud asked as he intertwined his fingers with mine.

"Hells yeah!" I said and pulled him towards the door that led to the club itself.

** Whoo! Damn this is a looooong chapter. 26 pages. I feel accomplished! I hope you guys don't mind the length I just couldn't find a good place to stop so I just kept on writing and writing… and writing LOL. Also, sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes :/**

** Ok review replies:**

** Faebsel: Yeah, I do cherish every moment I get to write because I find it so entertaining! I love this story haha. Yes, the book Tifa is reading does exist and I finished it just before I wrote that chapter. I loved it and you would probably like it too. I know. I imagine Cloud as having this extremely cute smile. Like a little boy's smile :)))))**

** Cloudlover2989: Yeah, I just got an iPhone for Christmas and autocorrect is already getting on my nerves. Grr haha. I'm glad you liked the chapter. **

** KairiXPrincessXofXLight: Lol I actually got that saying off a joke a comedian said a long time ago and I guess it just stuck with me.**

** Darkside: Thanks, I try to be the best I can be You were thinking about me! Aww, how sweet. *blushes* I'm fourteen, soon to be fifteen in May **

** Thanks for all the reviews Keep being your awesome selves and Stay Sexy!**

** p.s. the review button is lonely, so give it some love ;) **


	10. Test Results

**Well here I am, back again like some kind of insistent bug or something **

Cloud and I danced for what felt like hours, but when he checked his phone we'd only been dancing for about forty-five minutes. My legs were killing me though from all the grinding we were doing.

We walked to the bar together and ordered two Sprites. The bar tender nodded at Cloud in a friendly way and only spared me a glance. Then he got us our drinks and went down to the other end of the bar to service another customer.

"Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?" he said into my ear. His breath was cool against my hot body and it made goosebumps rise up over my skin.

I giggled and shook my head. "Well you do and I should've told you a long time ago." He kissed the skin right under my ear and then pulled away.

"I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere ok?" he asked me.

I nodded and he leaned in and gave me a hot but lingering kiss. He groaned when I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer. "I really have to go." he murmured against my lips.

I sighed. "Ok." I reluctantly let him go. He smiled at me before he left and I felt m heart flutter. In his eyes, there was an almost childlike excitement about what was about to happen.

I turned back to the bar and sipped on my drink. I was amazed at how thirsty I was. I finished off my drink and started on his. He had only taken like two drinks out of it.

"Are you here alone?" a voice asked as they slid into Cloud's seat.

I turned to the voice. It was a guy. He had spiked up black hair and dark eyes. I couldn't tell what color they were because of the dim lighting.

"No, my friends and boyfriend are here." I said, while resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

"Not very good friends if they're nowhere around here." He said.

"They're just off doing their own thing. Besides my boyfriend said he'd be back soon." I defended them.

"You've been sitting here by yourself for ten minutes and no one has come to talk to you." He stated.

What a stalker. "Ju-" there was a loud screeching noise coming from the front of the room that grabbed everyone's attention.

Apparently, there was a stage there that I had never noticed before until now. I don't think anyone had noticed it either.

Shadowy figures were walking back and forth across the stage, and then all but one of them disappeared into the wings. The only guy left stood center stage in the darkness until a spotlight appeared on him. I gasped when I saw who it was.

"Hi guys. Thanks for coming to Wildcat tonight. I'm the owner of this place, Cloud Strife. And right now I'd like to sing a song to my beautiful girlfriend sitting at the bar, Tifa Lockhart."

Instantly, what felt like a million pairs of eyes turned to me. I blushed, but felt myself stand up and wave.

Cloud used their moment of distraction and went to the piano that was right behind him. He attached the microphone to a stand on the piano and started playing.

I recognized the opening. He was going to sing Everything by Michael Buble to me.

_You're a falling star, You're the get away car.  
>You're the line in the sand when I go too far.<br>You're the swimming pool, on an August day.  
>And you're the perfect thing to say.<em> 

I felt myself stumble forward. I wanted to be up there when he finished his song so I could tell him what he really meant to me. I started to push through the crowd almost desperately.

_And you play it coy, but it's kinda cute.  
>Ah, When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.<br>Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true.  
>Cause you can see it when I look at you.<br>_

People parted for me and I felt completely grateful to them. I felt heat on my back so I looked back, and was almost blinded. A spotlight was shining on me. I continued my mad dash to the stage.

_And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times  
>It's you, it's you, You make me sing.<br>You're every line, you're every word, you're everything._

_You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,  
>And you light me up, when you ring my bell.<br>You're a mystery, you're from outer space,  
>You're every minute of my everyday.<br>_

So, so close. Just a little farther to go and I'd be up there with Cloud.

In these moments, I completely forgot about everything but him, about my need to get to him. Right not, all that mattered in my world was him and I was perfectly fine with that.

But, in my desperation I was missing his performance I decided to stand still for a moment and just enjoy it for a stanza or two. I told myself at the la, la, la, la, part I'd start my mission again.

_And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man,  
>And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.<br>Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,  
>And you know that's what our love can do.<em>

_And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times  
>It's you, it's you, You make me sing<br>You're every line, you're every word, you're everything._

Time to move out! I surged forward again. I reached the stage and I wasn't sure how to proceed. A hand grabbed my arm. I looked over and saw it was Zack. I let him lead me along until we reached a door.

_So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La  
>So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La<em>

_And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times  
>It's you, it's you, You make me sing.<br>You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.  
>You're every song, and I sing along.<br>'Cause you're my everything.  
>Yeah, yeah<em>

_So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La  
>So, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La, La<em>

As he finished the last la's I flung open the door and sprinted up the steps. I reached the wings just as he stood up and pulled the microphone out of the stand.

"I have something really important to say, Tifa. Where are you?" he asked searching the crowd.

I ran in from the wings. "Cloud! I'm here." I threw my arms around him and buried my face in his soldier.

"Ah, there you are." He joked into the microphone. The audience laughed.

He pulled away from me and stared me in the eye. "Tifa Lockhart. We've known each other for about four months or so and those have probably been the best four months of my life. What I wanted to tell you tonight is that… I love you. I have never felt this way about anyway else in my life. Do you love me too, Tifa?"

I was overcome with emotion. I felt so, so happy. I felt my eyes well up with tears and I think a few slipped over.

He frowned. "Why are you crying? Does this mean you don't love me?" he asked me wiping away a few.

I shook my head fervently and said through my tears. "You're so stupid, Cloud. Of course I love you, you big idiot!"

He laughed and said into the microphone "She said she loves me too."

The crowd cheered and Cloud pulled me into a hug. He pulled away for just enough so his lips could meet mine to seal our love.

I couldn't stop smiling though and neither could Cloud. We pulled away.

Zack was standing beside Cloud, holding Aerith's hand.

"Can I borrow the microphone, bro?" he asked.

"Sure." He handed the microphone over and we took a step back.

"Hey, I'm Zack. Lover boy's over there best friend in the whole world. Anyway this is my girlfriend of like who knows how many years now."

Aerith said something to him and then he said "She says three years. That's a really long time to be together right? So I thought I'd ask Aerith here a very important question tonight."

He got down on one knee, and I think everyone drew in a deep breath.

"Aerith, you've had me wrapped around your finger ever since we first met. I've known since I first saw your beautiful, big green eyes that I would be getting down on one knee and asking you this question. Will you marry me, Aerith? Will you be one and only… forever?" he asked her.

She stared deeply into his eyes and then she looked up at me. Our eyes met and I saw a sly smile cross her face.

"Only if Tifa agrees to be my maid-of-honor." She said loud enough that she didn't need the microphone to get her voice to project.

Zack immediately sprung up and ran over to me. "Please, please Tifa will you be our maid-of-honor?" he asked me.

"Well, let me thing about this. I've never really liked you… I'm just kidding, come here. Of course I'll be your maid-of-honor!" I said.

"Thank you so much!" he sprang up and gave me a huge bear hug and a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Uh, Zack, shouldn't you be kissing your girlfriend?" I asked him.

He froze and then said "Oh yeah!"

He ran over to Aerith again and said "So what do you say?"

She said "I've always been yours, Zack. Yes, I'll marry you."

He swept her up in a bigger hug than the one he gave to me.

Cloud put his arm around me and drew me close and planted a kiss on my head.

Zack set Aerith down. He whispered something in her ear and she blushed. She bit her lip for a second and nodded.

Zack spoke into the microphone "Thanks for hanging in there with us guys. We appreciate it. We'll let you get back to your dancing now." Even with his back turned to us I could tell that he was smiling.

Cloud led me off the stage. Zack and Aerith were close behind. I stepped away from Cloud and hugged Aerith tightly.

"I'm so happy for you!" I squealed.

We pulled away from each other but held onto each other's hands.

"I know! I'm so happy." She said.

I glanced over at the guys and found they were watching us uncomfortably. I promptly ignored them.

"Aerith, as your maid-of-honor I am helping you organize this wedding." I told her.

She grinned. "Remember when we were little girls and we would plan each other's weddings. I remember when we were five we had that big phase where all we wanted to do was pick out wedding dress's."

"Of course I remember." I said.

She pulled me in for another hug and said "I'm so glad we're still best friends."

"Me too." I replied. We hugged for another moment and then let go of each other at the same time.

I glanced around and realized that someone was missing. "Where the hell is Yuffie?" I asked no one in particular.

Aerith grinned. "Oh, I think you'll want to see this." She said.

She took my wrist and led me down the stairs and through the crowd until we came to a dark corner. This seemed to be a popular make out spot.

Aerith went to the very corner and pointed at a couple. I squinted and took a step closer to get a better look.

I saw Yuffie was pressed against the wall with some guy nuzzling her neck. Her eyes were closed and she was holding the guy's head in place. I noticed her fingers were entwined in his long hair. Long, red hair. Reno's long, red hair.

I gaped and was pulled away by Aerith. "Come on, Tifa, before she catches us." Aerith giggled.

I let her pull me away, still gaping at Yuffie. She was _sooo_ going to tell me the details later.

"You should see your face!" Aerith howled. She was bent over gasping for breath because she had been laughing so hard.

I rolled my eyes and grabbed Cloud's hand "Come on, Cloud. Let's go somewhere else so we don't have to deal with these weirdos." I said with a grin.

I pulled Cloud along looking for something to do. As I passed the bar I saw a familiar figure.

"Vincent!" I said. I hurriedly walked over there.

"How has your luck been?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "It's been ok."

I frowned. "Just ok? Haven't you talked to any girls at all?"

"Well… a few of them came up to me and talked but they didn't seem all that interested." He said.

I noticed the slur in his voice. "Have you been drinking?"

He nodded. "Jus a lil bit though."

I rolled my eyes "Ok. Bartender! Can I get a glass of water over here?" The guy behind the bar got me what I wanted and handed it to me.

"Don't drink anymore beer. Girls don't like drunk guys. Besides, you need to be on you're a-game." I said. "How drunk are you anyway?"

"I think I'm just a lil… tipsy?" he said.

I nodded. "Ok. You're not a completely lost cause." I glanced around, and immediately locked eyes with a girl on the other side of the bar. I didn't like the way she was giving me a snotty look but Vincent needed his practice. Then I saw her eyes flick towards Vincent and I understood why. She was jealous.

I turned to Vincent and said "There's a girl at the end of the bar in a," I glanced over my shoulder to see what she was wearing. "Red minidress. She has totally been checking you out. Go over and talk to her."

Vincent finished the glass of water and walked over to the girl. I watched as he struck up a conversation.

I wondered what he said to her, but my thoughts were soon interrupted by hands snaking around my waist and pulling me to a hard body. I looked up and saw it was Cloud and I relaxed. I turned around and put my arms around his neck.

"Can we go somewhere private?" I asked him. He nodded, and released all of me except for my right hand.

He led me to the elevators and pressed the up button. I figured he was taking me to his office. Indeed, when the elevator arrived he pressed the 3 button. I sagged against the railing of the elevator.

"Man, am I tired." I said.

Cloud stepped in front of me, so close that I let my head fall forward and rest against his chest.

"We can go soon." He said quietly. I felt his warm breath caress the back of my neck.

"I feel like such a loser. The night is less than half over and I'm already tired." I said.

I felt the elevator stop and heard the faint ding as the doors opened. I lifted my head and walked out of the elevator with Cloud. I walked the few feet to the front of his desk and lifted myself on top of it.

Cloud spread my legs and stood in between them. I wrapped my arms around his neck and laid my head on the part where his neck met his shoulder. I closed my eyes and just rested there.

"I love you so much, Tifa." Cloud said. "You have no idea how much I've wanted to say that to you these past few days."

"I've wanted to say it to you too, but I didn't want you to feel like I was rushing things." I said.

"Sometimes it seemed like you were teasing me. You would just look so adorable and I'd be so, so tempted to tell you but then I'd remember my plan and I would hold myself back." He said, "I was a little worried that you might say it first though. I thought you were going to say it when we were outside beside my bike on Monday."

I laughed. "I _was _about to say it, but I stopped myself." I admitted.

"I'm a little glad you didn't. I wanted to be the one to say it first." He said.

"Well you got your wish." I said with a smile.

He wrapped his arms around me and started gently rubbing my back. It felt really good. I sighed and snuggled closer into Cloud's chest.

I started humming "I Won't Say I'm In Love" from Hercules.

Cloud pulled away. "What are you singing?" he asked curiously.

"It's from the Disney movie Hercules. It's called 'I Won't Say I'm In Love.'" I explained.

"I've never seen that movie." He said with a slight grin.

"Are you kidding me? You need to watch it! It's great!" I said. I leaned back and braced myself with my palms behind me.

One of my palms slipped a little and I looked behind me. My hand was on a piece of paper that was slowly slipping away from me. At first glance I saw two words that made me freeze. **Lockhart, Tifa**

I snatched the paper and turned my body so Cloud couldn't take it away from me.

**Lockhart, Tifa Test Results**

** Blood type: O- **

** Reaction to Mako injections: Positive **

** Reflex test before Mako injections: Average **

** Reflex test after Mako injections: Above Average**

** Eye sight test before Mako injections: 20/25**

** Eye sight after Mako injections: 20/20 **

** Comments: Test subject has reacted favorably to all tests given. Subject will be given more tests to gauge endurance, stamina, speed, abilities, etc. **

** Subject appears to annoy scientists while being given tests. The scientists complain that she won't "shut up;" further data will be taken.**

"Wh-what does all this mean?" I asked Cloud, finally looking up at him. His face was stricken.

I looked over the paper again, trying to find some kind of logo. There. In the top left-hand corner an S and L intertwined with each other. And underneath of that in smaller letters were the words Shinra Laboratories.

My hands clenched into fists, wrinkling the paper. Shinra.

"They were trying to turn you into a SOLDIER, but somehow you escaped. I promise I'll figure out a way to fix this." He swore.

"When were you planning on telling me about this?" I asked him. One look at his face told it all though. "You weren't going to were you? You were going to keep this from me. Do you know what it's like to not remember _three months _of your life? It fucking sucks."

At that moment I realized what a hypocrite I was, after all I hadn't told him about my dreams. I quickly pushed that thought aside and concentrated on Cloud.

"I _was _going to tell you, I was just trying to find the right moment to tell you." He said unconvincingly.

I rolled my eyes and hopped off the desk to get away from him.

I stalked over to the windows and looked out over the city.

"Babe, I'm sorry. Don't let this ruin our night." He said. He came up behind me and put his hands on my hips. He gently kissed the exposed skin of my shoulder.

I tensed up and I felt his frown against my skin. "I just can't forget about this, Cloud."

"Can we just enjoy our night and then you can argue with me as much as you want later." He pleaded with me.

I sighed. "I'll try." I wished things could go back to normal, the way they had been before I'd found that sheet, but I knew everything was completely different now.

"Good." Cloud spun me around and pressed a kiss to my lips, but didn't try to go any farther.

We headed back down to the club and danced together. I decided to give tonight my all because after this I was going to focus on figuring out how to get revenge on Shinra and how to figure out my whole story.

Cloud seemed to notice the difference in me, but didn't comment. Maybe he figured I was channeling some of my anger into physical things, and part of it was that but mostly it was because I wanted to get the most out of tonight.

When it was almost three in the morning we all decided to head home. I looked through the club for Vincent I found him still talking to the same girl from before.

I quickly explained the situation to him and he decided to come and hang out with us at Cloud's house. He bid the girl farewell and came with me to the garage.

"So did you make out with that girl tonight?" I asked him.

He shook his head and said "I think she wanted me too, but I was too nervous to make the first move. I got her number though. When should I call her?"

"How badly do you want to see her again?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I don't know. Sometimes I got a little bored with her."

"Wait a week then." I said, leaning against Cloud's motorcycle.

He frowned. "I don't want to hurt her feelings."

"She'll get over it. If you still like her in a week than call her but if you don't remember then I think it's for the best." I said apathetically. I was too tired to really give a damn about Vincent's problems.

"Are you ok?" he asked, finally picking up my tone. He peered into my face.

I looked down at my shoes. "Just tired. A lot of stuff has happened tonight."

Vincent looked sympathetic. He opened his mouth to say something but Cloud entered the garage just then and he quickly shut his mouth with an audible snap.

"Ready to go?" he asked me.

I nodded and waited for him to climb on before I wearily climbed on behind him. We had our helmets on and I tried to rest my head against his back as well as my helmet would allow me.

I waved to Vincent as we drove out of the garage. He waved back.

It was a short ride to Cloud's house, thank God. When we reached our destination I almost fell off the bike. I was so worn out from living it up at the club. It was like I was crashing from a sugar high or something.

Cloud helped me up to his bedroom. He gave me some sweats and a t-shirt to change into. I stripped out of my clothes awkwardly because I was half asleep. I collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep moments later.

_ "She's just a girl!" _

_ "We can take her!" _

_ "Be careful, men!"_

_ These were a few of the less colorful jeers yelled at me when I pulled my hood down. _

_ Two of them ran at me, but I waited until they were almost on top of me to attack. I ducked the first guy's punch and swept the second guy's feet out from under him. I leapt on the second guy's chest and slammed his head into the ground to know him unconscious. The first guy was coming back around, but this time he was on guard. He dodged my kicks, but I finally managed to knock him out with a punch he wasn't expecting. _

_ Movement out of the corner of my eye brought to my attention the other thieves. There were about twenty-five of them in a large semi-circle around me. A few of them had guns, but most had throwing daggers. _

_ I drew my sword. To be honest a few of them looked intimidated. One of the guys shot at me but I brought up my sword and deflected it. The bullet ricocheted and hit one of his partners in the leg. _

_ "IDIOT! They'll use your bullets against you! Use your knives!" The apparent leader yelled at his subordinates. _

_ They put away their guns and drew out several knives. They all decided to rush me at the same time. The advantage was mine though because I had the bigger sword. _

_ The fights were short and took less than thirty seconds each. Finally it was just the leader and I left. _

_ He drew a sword similar to mine and we faced off. He moved to attack and I instantly blocked. Our swords met in a flurry of sparks. _

_ His strength was a huge advantage and he managed to get me down to one knee. I suddenly dodge rolled quickly to the left. My speed saved me here, because his sword came down inches from my flesh. _

_ "You're fast." He commented lightly. _

_ We continued our fight with him mostly on the offensive and me on the defense. Whenever I was on the offense, I could see him calculating my every move. _

_ We broke apart and I took a moment to catch my breath. "You've never killed before have you?" he asked curiously. _

_ He opened his arms to encompass everything around us. "All of my thieves are unconscious. None of them have actually been killed. You made sure of that didn't you?" he asked me. _

_ I fell to my hands and knees, and I heard him start to laugh. "This is your first mission, isn't it? You're a newbie." I could hear the crunch of his footsteps as he walked closer. He stopped about five feet away. _

_ "Giving up already?" he asked me. I let myself grin and sprung up. The knife that I had been clenching left my hand and buried itself in his sword hand. _

_ He dropped his sword and fell to his knees in shock. _

_ He screamed, a scream filled with pure pain. "You sadistic bitch! My hand is useless! I'll never be able to do anything with this hand ever again!" _

_ He cradled his hand to his chest. Blood dripped down to the ground. I was mesmerized for a moment before I gave him a feral grin. _

_ My hair was falling all over my face and I'm sure my eyes still held a little bit of bloodlust from the battle. _

_ "Just remember that hand next time you dare to mess with a newbie." I said. I hit him on the head with the butt of my sword, and he collapsed face down onto the dirt unconscious. _

_ I turned around and started walking. I didn't get very far before it felt like someone had taken a wrecking ball the size of a pebble and hit my left shoulder blade.. There was immediate pain, and I fell onto the ground. Whatever it was hurt like a mofo. I didn't seem to be bleeding, but I was definitely going to have a wicked bruise soon. _

_ I heard a commotion that was quickly cut off and then boots were standing beside me. I saw the hem of a long red coat. _

_ "Genesis." I said. _

_ "Next time, kill them. That way they don't wake up and decide to shoot you when your back is turned." He said calmly like a teacher explaining something to a slow child. _

_ "I'm never going to kill anyone." I promised. _

_ "We'll see." He replied. "Since you refuse to do it, I'll do the job for you." _

_ I wanted to protest, but he was gone before I had the chance. "GENESIS!" I screamed. _

_ I forced myself up even through the pain. _

_ "GENESIS!" I screamed again. _

_ I turned around and saw him posed over the leader. His sword was at the leader's neck, just barely touching. _

_ I ran over there as fast as I could. "Stop!" I shouted. _

_ He scowled and looked up. "What is it now?" he asked me. _

_ "Don't kill them." I insisted. _

_ "Why the hell not?" he asked me, pouting like a little boy. _

_ "Call whoever we work for to come pick them up. I'm sure we could still get back some of the stuff they stole." I said. "Just don't kill them." _

_ Genesis sighed as if this was a huge hardship for him and sheathed his sword. He pulled a phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. _

_ "This is Genesis. We have a pickup to report. Twenty-eight thieves in all. Also bring a first-aid kit." He said, hanging up. He sighed again and looked at me. "You're really annoying, you know that, right?" he said. _

_ I rolled my eyes and sat down tiredly. I shrugged off my backpack. Even doing that sent shockwaves of pain through my shoulder. "Looks like you got shot, want me to check it out for you?" he asked me, watching as I painfully tried to look at what was hurting. _

_ I nodded. He knelt down beside me, quickly pulling off his red gloves and then gently tried to pull my shirt collar down. Except the collar wasn't exactly stretchy. He sighed and muttered "annoying" under his breath as if I couldn't hear him. He ripped my shirt down the middle of my back and pushed the left half side of it away. _

_ He whistled. "You have quite the bruise there." He told me. _

_ "What does it look like?" I asked curiously. _

_ "Well it's black, and a little bigger than a baseball. It only looks like it's going to get bigger too." He said cheerfully. _

_ "Why are you so happy?" I asked him. _

_ "At least the bullet didn't break the skin." He replied. _

_ I sighed. Genesis could be so stupid sometimes. _

_ I felt my hair start to whip back and forth from a sudden wind, and looked up. A huge helicopter was descending about twenty feet away from us. _

_ When the helicopter landed two guys in black leather suits ran out and talked to Genesis for a minute before they ran back to the helicopter. The helicopter's blades started slowing down, signifying that it was going to be staying on the scene for a little while longer. _

_ Genesis leaned down and helped me to my feet. He walked me over to the doors of the helicopter and handed me off to a man in a white uniform. _

_ "She got shot, but I think something in her backpack protected the bullet from hitting her, but she has a large bruise on her left shoulder that you might want to check out." Genesis informed the guy as the blades finally stopped spinning. _

_ The guy nodded and then helped me to a special section in the plane reserved for medical emergencies and supplies. _

_ He gestured for me to sit down and I did as I was told. "Take off the rest of your shirt." He told me. _

_ I carefully pulled it off, so as not to hurt my shoulder any longer. _

_ "I'm going to sedate you so I can get a proper look at your bruise. Besides you look like you need a rest." The guy said kindly with a smile. _

_ I nodded. "I probably look like shit, don't I?" _

_ His smile widened. "You don't look that bad. I'm going to give you a shot now but it shouldn't hurt you too much." He said. I felt a tiny sting on my upper arm and then something being injected into me. I lay down on the table in the medical center and started counting to ten. One… two… three… four… five… si… sev… ei… n…._

_ Everything seemed to fast forward a bit until I was running through a hallway. I had some keys in my hand and a key card in the other. I was carrying a long sword that weighed me down a little but had only helped so far in defeating some of the guards. _

_ A loud alarm was going off that signaled my escape. But so far, I hadn't really seen anyone yet. _

_ I pushed myself a little faster and turned some corners. I had no idea where I was going, relying completely on instinct to guide me. _

_ I reached a row of elevators. I figured they could always cut me off that way so I looked around for some stairs. I saw a sign and opened the door next to it. Bingo._

_ I raced down the stairs taking two at a time. Suddenly a door opened about three flights above me and voices shouted "There she is! Get guards on levels 4, 5, 6 in the stairwell now!" _

_ The next floor I passed I saw I was only on level eight. I had to get down past level four before the guards got there. I sped up. _

_ I was still taking two steps at a time but at the speed I was going if I slipped and fell I could break my neck. No help for it though. _

_ I seemed to be losing my followers though, as they were slower than I and probably only taking one stair at a time. _

_ Just as I reached the fourth floor the door opened. I shoved my shoulder up against it and hit whoever had been coming out in the nose. I could hear the crack as his nose broke, but didn't stop and say sorry. _

_ I kept hurrying down the stairs and then reached a door that had a sign with an upper case G on it. Ground floor maybe? _

_ I decided to take my chances and headed out the door. I was right. I was in some kind of lobby and I could see some glass doors up ahead. _

_ I sprinted for them. Behind me, I heard the staircase doors open and boots pounding after me. _

_ I heard something whiz by, but didn't stop to see whether it had been a bullet or a dart. _

_ I used dodging maneuvers that the scientists here had taught me. Luckily, they worked. _

_ I burst through the doors and onto a busy street. I ran along the sidewalks. It was late at night and the side walks were empty of people. When I felt like I was far enough away I stopped running and started walking slowly. I looked behind me and saw the Shinra building. That must have been the building I had escaped from. Who knew? _

_ I took another step and then a pain more intense than I had ever felt before hit my head. _

_ I fell to my knees, clutching my head. Tears welled up and spilled over. I crawled into a nearby alley and huddled on the ground. The ground was cold but felt good against my throbbing head. In fact, I hadn't felt it during my run but it was freezing outside. _

_ I concentrated on the coldness penetrating my skin instead of the intense headache. After a few minutes I started to wonder why I was on the ground in an alley. I got to my feet shakily and tried to remember what I'd last been doing. _

_ Something about… Cloud! That was it! I was going to Wildcat to… well I didn't really remember that part anymore but I was going to Wildcat and… somehow I ended up here. _

_ Vaguely I remembered it being daytime when I went and now it was night… but semantics. I started walking quickly in the direction of Wildcat. I had to get there quickly to avoid freezing to death. My walk soon turned to a run to get warmer. _

_ I reached Wildcat without really remembering my journey there. I was really forgetful today wasn't I? _

_ It appeared that no one was inside the building so I broke in through a side door. I made my through the empty club and pressed the up button. Surprisingly it lit up. One of the doors opened and I stepped inside the elevator. I had only been on the elevator for a few seconds when it stopped. The lights flickered and then went off. Frowning, I managed to pry open the elevator doors. Only gray wall. _

_ I looked around, and then looked up. In the movies didn't they always push up a panel on the roof of the elevator and it would open to the top? _

_ I decided to try this. I got on my tip toes and pushed up on all of the ceiling panels. The second one I tried pushed up successfully. I jumped up and pushed the panel up and over so it was out of my way. Then I jumped up again and grabbed the edges of the space opened by the absence of the ceiling tile. I slowly hoisted myself up and onto the top of the elevator. _

_ The elevator was a little higher than the bottom of the third floor elevator doors. I used all my strength to open the third floor doors. Finally after my third try I managed to get them open wide enough for my body to squeeze through. _

_ They slid shut after I got through. I walked into Cloud's office and looked around. His desk suddenly looked very appealing. I was so sleepy and it looked so comfortable. I put all the stuff on his desk in his drawers and then climbed onto his desk. I curled into a ball and cushioned my head on my arms. My eyes slipped shut. _

My eyes flicked open and I knew what I was going to do.

I looked over beside me and saw Cloud sleeping peacefully beside me. I took a moment to drink in his features. Then, I got up out of bed and quietly changed into my clothes from last night. They were a little wrinkled but I thought they would be ok for my purposes.

I took one last look at Cloud as I was about to exit his room and then shut the door softly behind me.

I crept through the house, careful not wake anyone up.

When I reached the garage I saw our car in there and breathed a sigh of relief. I got in and started up the car.

I drove quickly down Cloud's driveway so no one could run after me and catch up. Then I took a left onto the road into the city.

I was going back to Shinra.

**Oh snap! Cliff hanger! Woman on a mission here! LOL anyway, I'm extremely tired right now so that's probably why Tifa was tired after the club. It's only 7:45 but I'm worn out. I was sick this week and I think I'm still getting over it :/ **

** Anyway onto review replies: **

** Faebsel: I honestly don't have time to make all the chapters that long. I worked on that chapter for like four days straight or something like that. It was pretty crazy haha. Yeah, I think Vincent is pretty hot. And Cloud in Vans *drools*. Vans are popular at my school now and Cloud needed some shoes to wear so I figured those would be hot enough. **

** Aiko Yamarashi: I'm glad you like my story. I try to update once every week, but sometimes things come up… **

** ZackFairsGirl-x: I like sarcastic guys. They make me laugh. So I wanted to write Cloud in a way that I liked him so I wouldn't get bored and want to stop writing. Thanks for the compliment. It really makes me want to keep writing with compliments like that :))))**

** Darkside: Is that a good wow? Lol. I don't know how old you have to be to start writing "wonderful stories." I just write what comes to mind and people magically like it. Of course, sometimes I get pissed off at myself for whatever I just made my characters do so I'll completely erase my chapter and start ALL over again. I can be a perfectionist sometimes. **

** I hope you did well on your exams. **

** Thank you guys for all your enthusiasm for this story. It kind of feeds my enthusiasm for this story which makes me write another chapter and then you guys get enthusiastic again which…. Yeah you get the idea lol. **

** I got my report card today! I had ALL As! I'm so proud of myself. I even got an A on my World Civ semester exam which I was really worried about. **

** And I have also started winter track, which I am so happy for because I am ABSOLUTELY in love with track but unfortunately for you guys track wears me out like no other so it makes me not want to update. But I'll try my best. **

** Right now you guys are probably thinking to yourselves "Oh my God. Will this girl ever stop talking? I have a life to get back to." So, I will go now. But I'll be back soon (hopefully). **

** Have some virtual cookies! *throws some random chocolate cookies into the air* **

** The people that review to this chapter will get virtual HUGS. Look at me, bribing you. I feel so low…. **

** Anyway, the review button is feeling lonely, so give it some love ;) **


	11. Smokey

"I was expecting you to return but I didn't think you'd show up so soon." Rufus gloated as he appraised me, standing before him.

"You could say I saw the light of your… enterprises." I said slowly.

"Yes, well, everyone does eventually." He bragged.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "I'm here to work. Do you have any missions that I can go on?" I asked him.

He was silent for a moment, just watching me. Finally, he said "What are your real motives for coming here? I know it's not because you missed me."

I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at the ceiling. "Let's just say I remember certain things and they left a strong impact on me. I can never go back to normal now."

"If you say so." He said I could tell he didn't believe me, but he didn't push it.

I sighed. "Look do you want my help or not?"

"You're a very valuable asset to this company. With your looks you can get things out of the male workers of our enemy companies." He hedged.

"So do you want me or not?" Jeez, just get to the point already!

"Yes. We can find something for you to do." He said, sensing my impatience.

"When is my next mission?" I asked him. I wanted this meeting over with as soon as possible. This guy still gave me the creeps even after all this time.

"In a week from now come back here at 6. I'll have your next mission ready for you then." He informed me.

I nodded and then turned to go. "Oh, and Ms. Lockhart? One last thing." He said. I continued walking until I reached the elevator and pressed the button for the elevator. After I had done that I looked over my shoulder at him.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Give Cloud my regards." He said and then looked down at a file on his desk. I felt my hands ball into fists, but at that moment the elevator doors opened and I stepped inside.

When I reached my car and I got inside but didn't turn it on for a few minutes. I thought about what exactly I was going to tell everyone about all this. Then an idea came to me. I wasn't going to tell them anything. This was going to be my secret. It might completely ruin my relationship with everyone including Cloud but right now, this was all that mattered. My revenge was the only thing that was important anymore.

My next mission was exactly a week from today. Until then, I just had to act normal. Then I would just go with little, to no warning.

There, it was decided, then. Confident in my decision I put the key in the ignition and started the car.

I drove to my apartment and let myself in. I was immediately assaulted by a cloud of white.

I coughed. "What is this? Cocaine?"

I heard laughter coming from up ahead so I made my way through the white dust sprinkling everything. It was hard to tell from the "cocaine" but I think I was in the kitchen when I found the source of the laughter.

Yuffie was shoving cookie dough into Reno's mouth, all the while dodging the batter he held in his hand.

"What's going on here?" No response.

"Hey!" still nothing.

"What the FUCK, guys?" I screamed. Both of them froze and turned slowly around. I almost laughed but I didn't want to give away the joke too quickly.

"T-Tifa! I- W-we didn't know you were going to be back so soon. We're going to clean up soon. I promise!" Yuffie stammered.

I doubled over laughing at her deer-in-the-headlights look. "You actually think I'm – gasp – mad?" I said.

Her face got red and she stomped her foot. "Tifa!"

Reno had a small grin on his face and was rubbing the back of his neck.

I straightened up and said "So, Yuffie. Is Reno the delicious hunk of man-meat you were talking about?" I winked at Reno.

Yuffie flushed and she said "I never said that!"

"Sure, Yuffie." I said with an eye-roll. "You two play nice now." I said heading towards my bedroom.

I opened the door, stepped inside, and then locked the door behind me.

"**I'M SO HORNY! I – I'M SO HORNY!" **

My phone started going off on the corner of my nightstand. So that's where I'd lost it.

I answered it. "Hello?"

"Where are you?" Cloud asked on the other side. A hint of worry colored his voice.

"At home." I replied, taking off my jacket and sitting on the bed.

"Why didn't you stay at my house? Or at least wake me up to tell me you were leaving?" I could exasperation in his voice.

"I remembered something I had to do, so I left. Plus I didn't want to wake you. I thought I'd be back before you woke up, but then I decided to just come to the apartment." Was my lame answer.

He sighed. "Next time… just wake me up ok?"

"Ok." I said. It was definitely a lie but it had to be done.

I suddenly wished none of this had happened to me. I wish I hadn't been kidnapped by Shinra. I wish I wasn't driven by this need to get revenge. I wish Cloud and I had a normal relationship. Unfortunately, I didn't see a genie around anywhere.

"Cloud?" I said.

"Yes?" he replied.

I hesitated. What was I going to say? What _could _I say? I decided to say the only thing I was completely certain of anymore. "I love you. Don't forget that, ok?"

"I love you, too, Tifa. Don't _you _forget that." he said.

"I won't. Bye, Cloud." I said and hung up.

I put the phone back on my nightstand and stood up. I was suddenly filled with a nervous energy. I walked around my room looking at everything. All the pictures, all the little knick-knacks, all of the crap I had collected over the years.

I picked up a framed picture of Aerith and myself. I remembered the moment when this picture had been taken. It was two summers ago, between junior and senior year. We'd gone to Six Flags and we were near the water park. Aerith had pulled out her camera and insisted we take a picture together. I had grudgingly agreed.

I smiled sadly at the thought of good times gone past and gently set the picture down.

"Tifa?" the door cracked open and Aerith poked her head inside.

"Aerith." I replied with a small grin. She opened the door wider and stepped inside my room.

"You wanna hang out today?" she asked me with a small smile. "Yuffie left with Reno as I was coming up the stairs. It's just us."

I considered it. Sulk in my bedroom all day or have fun with my best friend? It was an easy decision.

"Sure, I'll hang out with you today! What are friends for, anyway?" I said.

"Wait, we're friends?" she said giving me a confused look.

I made a move to smack her arm but she got away before I could do anything. "Haha. Very funny, Aerith. We'll see whose laughing in our singing competition."

"Oh, you're on." She said.

I held up my hands and said "Hey, when you lose don't say I didn't warn you. You can go cry to your new fiancé."

She grinned. "Come on. Let's go put on the radio really loud and dance." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me out of my bedroom.

She pulled out her iPhone and turned on Pandora. When Pandora loaded she put her phone on the iHome and turned up the music. "I'm Yours" came on by the Cast of Glee.

We started singing. Aerith had a beautiful voice, while my voice wasn't nearly as nice.

Halfway through the song I started doing pelvic thrusts in Aerith's direction that had us both in tears.

We started battling each other for funniest dance move. Aerith tried to do some weird spazzing movement type of dance and ended up on the floor. I howled with laughter.

Somehow we both ended up on the floor, rolling from side to side with laughter. My ribs and stomach were killing me but I couldn't stop laughing.

We finally stopped laughing and waited for the next song to start. "Blame it on the alcohol" came on. Aerith tried to sing the first word but her voice broke really bad. That sent us both into hysterics again.

I crouched behind the couch waiting for Aerith to walk by. She had just passed when I jumped onto her and brought us both to the ground. "AHH!" she yelled.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA! I GOT YOU GOOD THAT TIME! HAHAHAHAHA!" I yelled.

I felt drunk, even though I had had nothing to drink. Maybe just being with my best friend was almost like being intoxicated.

Aerith shoved me off of her and sprung up. She held out a hand and I took it and pulled her down with me again.

She collapsed laughing next to me.

"Is there anything anyone wants to tell me?" Zack said, standing over us.

Aerith and I only laughed harder at him and he exchanged a look with someone I couldn't see.

"Is there a girl fight going on? Get out of the way, Zack. I need to see this action." Cloud joked, shoving Zack to the side playfully.

Aerith and I were desperately trying to breathe through our laughter. Really, it was too much.

"Have they had something to drink?" Zack asked Cloud worriedly watching us.

Cloud shook his head. "Um, I don't think so."

Our laughter finally died down and we gasped for air.

"Are you guys ok?" Zack asked.

Aerith nodded and got shakily to her feet. She helped me up and we leaned against each other for support.

"You should have seen us earlier, Zack! We were singing and dancing!" Aerith said. "And- and- OH! I love this song! Sing with me Zack. I know you this song!"

"_I couldn't if I tried." _She sang to him.

He grinned and sang back. "_Oh honey, if I get restless…_" he swept her up in his arms and started dancing with her and singing at the same time.

Cloud approached me and drew our bodies together. He started twirling me, and spinning me out and then bringing me back against his chest. We swayed together.

In that moment, everything felt so _right_. Like the universe had aligned or something. I looked over my shoulder at Cloud and he lowered his face to mine and kissed me passionately.

I forgot about Shinra and my upcoming mission and giving up my love for Cloud, and just kissed him back. He pulled me back closer to his body.

"Just a Kiss" by Lady Antebellum came on. It seemed to fit so perfectly.

Cloud and I pulled away from each other for a moment, but still kept our faces close together. In that moment, I could all the love he had for me and it just about broke my heart. I felt my eyes fill with tears, and I quickly looked down before he could see them.

"I love you so much." He whispered and kissed my forehead.

I kept my eyes downcast. I was still fighting tears.

I pulled away from him and looked over at Aerith and Zack. They were kissing passionately. No help was going to come from there.

I avoided looking at him. I felt his presence come a little closer. He reached and gently took my hand. "Tifa… is there something wrong?"

I couldn't look at him. I felt like I was about to break down and start bawling my eyes out.

The thick lump in my throat was almost impossible to get around. "Nothing's wrong." I whispered.

"Tifa. Please. I know there's something you're not telling me. Do you not love me anymore?" he asked. His voice sounded so heartbroken.

I whirled around. "No! That's not it."

"What is it then?" he asked me bringing up the hand he had around his neck. He reached down for my other hand and pulled it up until it wrapped around his neck too. He placed his hands on my hips. We started swaying gently, like we were back in middle school again, dancing to a slow song.

"I can't tell you." I said stubbornly.

"Couples aren't supposed to keep secrets from each other, Tifa. I want to help you but I can't do that if you won't tell me what's wrong." Cloud said.

I gazed straight ahead, not looking at him, but feeling his gaze on my face.

"I _can't _tell you." I said.

"Can't or won't?" he asked.

I felt my temper rise up and I took a step back. I dropped my hands from around his neck but he still held onto my waist. "Does it matter? Just let it go, Cloud."

He shook his head. "No. I'm not letting this go. I can tell it's important and you're not going to hide it from me for long."

I took another step back and made him let go of my waist. "Everything was perfect ten minutes ago. Why did you have to go and ruin it?" I asked him, my voice rising.

"Me? YOU'RE the one hiding things!" he said, his voice getting louder than mine.

"I'm just trying to protect you. If I told you what was going on you would be hurt!" I yelled. Never mind the fact that letting go of our love was going to definitely hurt him.

"Do I _look _like I need protecting?" he asked me.

"Cloud. Stop being so goddamn pushy." I tried to rein in my temper but my statement only seemed to rile him up even more.

"Why are you being so goddamn secretive? I'm only being pushy because I don't want there to be anything in between us, but you're being stupid and not letting me in. God, I thought we could trust each other but apparently you don't trust me enough to let me in on your secrets!" he yelled.

I took a step back. Cloud looked shock and that slowly transformed into a look of horror. He tried to reach out for me but I took another quick step back. He followed me, and that's when I turned and ran out of there. I grabbed a coat and a pair of shoes and slammed the door behind me.

I heard several voices call my name. I was halfway down the stairs when I heard Cloud yell after me "Baby, please come back. I didn't mean it!"

I hurried faster down the stairs and called over my shoulder. "Just give it a rest, Cloud. We both knew this wasn't going to work out."

I think he replied but I was too concentrated on not tripping on the stairs and breaking my neck. My eyesight was becoming blurry with tears as I ran to the car.

I got in and banged my head against the steering wheel a few times. It only made my head hurt and it didn't help anything.

I wiped away a few of my tears and drove away from the apartment building. I drove, not really watching where I was going. So I was surprised when I found myself in the parking lot of the park where we had had our first snowball fight.

I got out of the car and trudged through the two-day old snow towards where I thought the clearing might have been.

After a few wrong turns, I managed to make it to the clearing. I walked to the middle and then just collapsed in the snow.

The cold cleared my head a little, and I could only replay what had just happened in my head.

My eyes filled with tears and I sobbed into the snow. I don't know how long I laid there for. Minutes. Hours. Days. Months. Years. Centuries…. Time seemed to fly by and crawl at the same time.

When I felt a hand on my shoulder I could hardly feel my body anymore I was so cold.

"Cloud told me about your fight." A quiet and soothing voice said.

I looked up and my eyes met with his.

"Vincent. How'd you find me?" I asked. My voice sounded dead. The question might've sounded curious on someone else's lips but on mine they fell from my lips,

sounding as dead as I felt inside.

"I knew where to look." He said vaguely.

He bent down and scooped me up into his arms like I was some kind of child.

"Are you going to tell Cloud you found me?" I asked quietly.

"Of course. Do you want me to tell him that you don't want to see him?" he asked.

I nodded and fought down a yawn. All that crying really wears you out.

"I'll take you to my place and you can hang out there until you want to go home." he said.

We reached the parking lot and he led me to the same car that he had picked me up in when Cloud and I had gone shopping. Jesus Christ, I couldn't go five seconds without thinking of him.

"Where are your keys?" he asked me. I put a shaky hand into one of my pockets and pulled out the keys. They clattered together from the movement.

"I'll be right back." He said, before closing the door.

I closed my eyes for a moment and when I opened them again Vincent was carrying me inside the house his apartment was in.

"What are you going to do?" I asked sluggishly.

"What do you mean?" he asked. He sounded a little amused.

"Are you going to give me a bath or what?" I asked him. Right now, I could care less about him seeing me naked. I just wanted to be warm.

"I'm going to put you in my bed with a heating pad." He said.

"Mm. Sounds nice. Are you going to be joining me?" I asked him.

"I don't think Cloud would like that." he replied.

"Cloud… Yes… he wouldn't like that at all. He's so possessive. He just might punch you in the face if he caught you snuggling with me." I said sleepily.

Vincent chuckled and I felt my own sleepy smile cross my face although I didn't know what was so funny.

"Are you going to call Cloud?" I asked. Everything was hazing in and out and something important happened between Cloud and I but I was having a hard time remembering just exactly what it was…

I think he told me he loved me? Yeah, that was it. He sang a song. It was nice.

"I already did." Vincent said interrupting my thoughts.

I frowned and said. "Well call him back and tell him… tell him…" I was having trouble saying what I wanted to because I felt myself growing closer and closer to sleep.

"Tell him… that he means everything to me and that I would never keep anything from him." Wait, no that wasn't right… there was something about what I just said that didn't sit right with me but what was it?

"If you say so." Vincent said lightly.

My eyes slid shut as Vincent gently deposited me on the bed. "Sleep well, love." He said. I felt a feather light brush against my forehead and then I was gone.

I was woken up from a very pleasant dream involving a certain blonde and me on a beach. Things had been getting heated and not because of the sun.

I glanced around the room to find out what had woken me up. I didn't see anything out of the ordinary… or at least what I thought was out of the ordinary since I had never been in Vincent's room before.

I relaxed back onto the bed. I felt really bad about the fight between Cloud and I. I didn't want to fight with him. I wanted us to be together forever.

Vincent poked his head in the doorway. "Oh you're up." He said coming into the room.

I nodded.

"Do you want anything?" he asked me.

I slowly shook my head. I felt like I was forgetting something but nothing came to mind. "Vincent…" I said

"Hmm?" he asked.

"Did… what… never mind." I finally said. I couldn't find the right words.

"I thought you might want to know… Cloud is in the kitchen." He said cautiously.

I froze and then relaxed. "And?"

"He wants to see you." Vincent said.

I sighed. "Send him in then."

Vincent left the room. I concentrated on trying to count all the cracks in the ceiling. I heard Cloud come in but neither of us said anything.

"Say something." I finally said. I couldn't stand the silence between us.

"Something." He said dryly.

I frowned and looked at him. Wrong move. Our eyes met and I couldn't look away.

I sighed. "I'm not going to push you. At least not right now. But I'll find out what you're hiding from me." he promised.

"We'll see." I replied. Our eyes were still locked.

"I got you something." He said suddenly.

"What? Why?" I asked. Why the hell did he get me something?

He looked confused. "Did no one tell you? Today is Christmas."

"Really?" I asked.

He nodded wordlessly.

"So… what did you get me?" I asked curiously, perking up. I mean, who doesn't like presents?

He walked closer and reached in his jacket for something and put it on my lap. I gasped when I saw what it was.

It was the smallest kitten I'd ever seen. It had a white muzzle and gray fur with black streaks all over it.

I picked it up and cuddled with it. "Is it a boy or a girl?" I asked him.

"Boy. He's already been neutered." Cloud said.

Just then the kitten yawned and then opened its eyes. It looked straight into my eyes, and call me crazy, but I swear we made a connection.

Its eyes were the same exact blue as Cloud. I felt my eyes burn and quickly blinked back any tears that threatened to spill over.

"I love it." I said quietly.

"I knew you would." Cloud said softly. He came closer until he was standing next to the bed.

I put the cat back on my lap and it curled up and fell asleep. "I put some food and litter at your apartment. There's also a book on how to take care of kittens." He continued.

"I- I don't know what to say." I said.

"Thank you will suffice." Cloud said with a small, sad smile.

"Thank you so much, Cloud. This is the best gift anyone has ever given me." I said.

I held out my arms and he leaned in and gave me a hug. We held each other for a few moments but then I pulled away.

I looked down at the cat and bit my lip. "What should I name it?" I asked.

I could see Cloud shrug out of my peripheral. "Whatever you want."

I picked up the kitten. It opened its eyes and looked a little annoyed at being awoken yet again.

"What's your name?" I asked it. We stared at each other for a few moments and then I said "Smokey. That's what his name is."

Cloud nodded. "Smokey it is."

As if to agree with my decision Smokey meowed.

I hugged him to my chest. "You're so adorable." Smokey rubbed his head against my chin and started purring. I couldn't help smile.

"So I've been told. Oh. You were talking to the cat." Cloud said.

I laughed at him. Smokey licked my neck and I giggled at the sand paper-y feel of it.

Cloud smiled and then turned and started to leave. "Where are you going?" I asked him.

"I didn't want to stay too long and ruin what we just semi-fixed." He explained.

"Come play with Smokey and me." I said. I placed Smokey on the bed and got off the bed. When I was off I clapped my hands and said "Smokey, come here."

Smokey stood up and stretched and then padded lazily over to me.

I picked him up and put him on the floor.

He sat down, looked up at me, and meowed. "What?" I asked him.

"I think he wants to be picked up." Cloud said after a few moments.

Smokey _was _looking at me somewhat expectantly. I bent down and picked him up and he started purring loudly.

"Silly boy." I said petting his head. He licked my chin.

I looked up and saw Cloud watching me with a wistful look on his face. "What?" I asked him.

He shook his head and said quickly. "Nothing."

I stalked closer and said "I know it's _something_. Don't lie to me."

He grinned and said "My lips are sealed."

I pouted. "Come on, Cloud. Please?" I gave him puppy dog eyes and he buckled.

"I was… just wishing I could do that too." He said.

"Do what?" I asked confused.

He took the cat from my hands and set him on the bed. Smokey gave a disgruntled noise but settled on the bed and watched us with luminous blue eyes.

I turned my gaze back to Cloud and looked into his equally blue eyes.

"This." He said.

He snaked a hand around my waist and pulled me up against his body.

"Cloud." I protested.

"Don't tell me you don't want this as much as I do. I know we just had a fight, but I know the way you feel about me even if you are a little pissed at me." he said.

He licked my chin and inwardly I went _Oh…_ He kissed my chin and then hovered over my mouth.

I was still undecided as to whether I was sure I wanted this. I knew Cloud was waiting for me to say yes or give him the go ahead.

I'm not for sure how long we stood there while I waged an inner battle with myself.

"Well?" Cloud said, and I could hear the smirk in his voice.

My eyes were locked with his and I could see his eyes growing darker with desire.

Oh, what the hell. I hadn't gotten him a Christmas present, and this would make up for that.

I leaned the last little bit and our lips met. He sighed.

I don't know if I've ever said anything about how well Cloud could kiss. He was extremely good at it. If there was a kissing Olympics he would win hands-down.

I pulled away and whispered "Why are you so good at everything?"

I felt his mouth curve up in a smile as he kissed my jaw. "What do you mean?"

"Well kissing for one, and you always look really, really good. Even after what I know had to be a long day. Plus you smell amazing. Even if you didn't take a shower… well you'd probably stink then but you always smell really amazing. And now I'm babbling." I finished. Smooth, Tifa, smooth…

"Good to know you've been smelling me in your spare time." He said, kissing me a few times on my neck.

"Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm a total stalker." I replied, trying to keep my cool.

"As long as you're only stalking me…" he said.

"Well there are a few others that I watch take showers - I mean – um, observe." I joked.

Cloud froze and I almost groaned. "A few others?" he asked.

"I meant just you." I said, and to my relief he started kissing me again. God, he really was like a drug. I was totally addicted to him.

"Good." He said.

"Hey guys, I was just wondering if – oh, never mind." Vincent said walking into the bedroom.

Cloud and I sprung apart and looked everywhere but at each other.

"I see you two kissed and made up… or should I say kissed and made _out_." Vincent said with a smirk.

"You know, for someone with no experience you have some balls for saying that." I said.

Vincent flushed and said "T- that's not important."

I laughed at his face and picked up Smokey off the bed.

"Come on, Smokey. Let's get away from all this testosterone." I said and walked out with him under my arm.

"Is my car here?" I called out.

"Yeah. I'll escort you to it." Vincent yelled back. I heard a few hushed murmurs and then Vincent appeared.

He handed me my jacket and I put Smokey down on one of the counters while I put on my jacket. I picked up Smokey and zipped him right next to my neck so he would be warm and pulled my hood up.

Vincent showed me where he had parked my car a block from his apartment.

"Are you and Cloud ok again?" he asked me when we reached the car.

"I'm not really sure." I replied honestly.

Vincent nodded. "If you ever need a place to crash I'm always open for business."

"You sound like a prostitute." I replied as I got in my car.

"I'll be your prostitute." He said with a wink. I laughed at his dirty joke and shut my car door.

I unzipped my jacket and put Smokey on my lap. I started the car and turned the heat up high for him. He curled into a ball and promptly fell asleep.

I sighed as I started driving home. I knew Aerith was going to chew me out when I got to the apartment. It would last at least 20 minutes. Maybe I could distract her with Smokey.

I glanced down at his sleeping form. Hmm… maybe I could get out of that lecture if I did some fast talking…

I drove the rest of the way home with a small smile on my face and I stroked Smokey every so often.

**That was probably the worst ending I've ever had for one of my chapters. The angst, oh my goodness, was killing me! I had to be done of it. It was killing me. If you knew me you would know that I practically never stop smiling and that anything and everything amuses me, so writing this chapter was literally painful. I thought I was going to shoot myself from all the depressing shit I forced myself to write. I mean a little angst is ok but I hate when there are loads and loads of it… and there's going to be more angst in upcoming chapters. **

**Anyway enough of my rant. Onto the review: **

**Mickey R3mix: I'm going to answer to both of your reviews. I'm glad you think my story is funny. I love making people laugh. And I'm glad you're addicted to this story. Is this a fast enough update for you? For future references I try to update every week but sometimes I update faster and slower than that so just bear with me…. **

**Shivana: I actually got the idea of Vincent getting tipsy from you, thank you very much. :D I have a vague kind of idea of how I'm going to end this story and I'm not sure whether there will be a fight between Cloud and Tifa or not…. On chapter 9: I try to make all my characters act somewhat… realistic. I mean sometimes I know I'm way off that mark but usually I try to think of how I would react in that situation. Yes, Vincent has a crush. *aww* **

**Aiko Yamarashi: I hope you enjoyed the chapter **

**Cloudlover2989: Thank you, I try. **

**Faebsel: I'm glad you like this length of chapters. I rather like it myself. It's not too long and not too short. Just right. You should be excited about the mission. New characters are going to come in… ;) **

**Thank you for all the review guys. I really appreciate them. If you want to completely bash this story, and point out all the plotholes or give me compliments, or if you just really want to see your username in the next chapter… REVIEW!**

**Oh and I'm posting a picture of Smokey on my profile if you want to see him… it's more of what he'll look like when he's older but he is still ADORABLE!**


	12. Sexual Encounters

**I hope everyone had a wonderful MLK day. I had a pretty nice day. I went to the bookstore with my family and got the second book in "Across the Universe" series. It's really good so far. Anyway, onto the chapter**

Smokey jumped onto my lap and waved a paw at me. "What?" I asked him, looking down at him.

"Meow." He said. I pet him and he started to purr loudly.

"You silly boy, did you just want me to play with you?" I asked him, scratching under his chin. He blinked his eyes slowly. I took that as a yes.

"AWWW! YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU GOT A CAT, TIFA!" Yuffie yelled. I winced.

"Yuffie… I'm right in front of you…" I said.

"WHAT'S ITS NAME?" she ignored my previous statement and continued yelling.

"Honestly, Yuffie. And his name is Smokey. Cloud got him for me." I explained.

"AWWW!" Yuffie exclaimed. I sighed. There was no getting through to her.

She moved forward to pet Smokey. He crouched down on my lap and shrunk away from her. "Aw, Yuffie he's afraid of you." I said.

I pet his head and he relaxed a little. Yuffie held her hand out for Smokey to smell. He sniffed it warily, but let her pet his head.

"He's so soft. And his eyes look exactly like Cloud's." Yuffie said in a much quieter voice.

"I know. He's absolutely adorable!" I squealed and picked him up.

I brought him out to the kitchen and set him down on the floor. I walked over to the counter and pulled the bread out of the cabinet along with some peanut butter.

I put the bread in the toaster and then leaned against the counter.

Aerith was sitting at the kitchen table with her laptop open in front of her. She looked really stressed out.

"What's up?" I asked her.

She sighed and tore her eyes away from the laptop. "I'm just trying to figure out a good day for this wedding."

"Well is it going to be a big wedding or a small get-together?" I asked her.

"It's going to be medium-sized. We're only going to have about twenty people or so there." She said.

"Well since it's only medium-sized then you could be ready by February at the earliest right?" I asked her.

She thought about it. "If I get a wedding designer they could help me with the planning too…"

I nodded. "So have you decided who you're going to choose for your bridesmaids?"

She grinned. "Of course. After all, you guys are supposed to help out with the wedding. Especially you Maid-of-Honor." She gave me a look that told me I'd be getting most of the planning.

"Well as long as you'll be my maid-of-honor then I'll be your maid-of-honor." I shot back.

"Oh. Are you and Cloud thinking about marriage?" she asked me.

"WHAT? YOU AND CLOUD ARE GETTING MARRIED? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?" Yuffie exploded.

Uh oh. "No, guys, no. We're not getting married anytime soon. Yuffie. Chill. Out." I said.

Her chest was heaving in anger and she looked like she was about to beat the shit out of me. I cowered against the counter until she backed off.

"I just meant, when I _do _get married I want you to be my maid-of-honor, Aerith." I clarified.

She laughed. "Oh. I feel stupid now."

"Don't you normally feel that way?" I asked her innocently.

"Ha ha. Your lame jokes continue to amuse me." Aerith said flatly. She didn't sound amused at all.

"You know why you wear white at a wedding, Aerith?" I asked her, changing the subject.

She looked confused by the subject change. "Um, I…" she said.

"It's because the bride is supposed to be _pure_ as in," I lowered my voice as if I were telling a secret, "a virgin."

Aerith blushed bright red. "W-what makes you think I'm not a virgin?" she asked me.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh please, Aerith. I've seen the way you and Zack kiss. No way are you still a virgin."

She wouldn't meet my eyes.

"Oh. My. GOD! I wasn't sure but now I am! You dirty little slut… what was it like?" I said.

"Tifa!" Aerith exclaimed. She sounded scandalized.

"Come on. Give up the goods." I said impatiently.

She pushed the screen of the laptop down and set her clasped hands on top of it. "Well… we've never actually… _done _it. But we've gotten really, really close before." She admitted.

"So… how far have you gotten?" I asked. My toast long forgotten I joined her at the kitchen table and pulled my chair closer. Yuffie did the same and we were both listening intently.

"Do I really have to say?..." she said nervously.

"I'll tell you how far I've gotten with Cloud." I offered.

"Yeah. I'll tell you about Reno too!" Yuffie threw in.

Aerith hesitated. "Um…" Her face was beet red and she looked like she was about to pass out.

"We've um…" he face suddenly grew blank.

"I've given him a few handjobs and he fingered me a little while ago…." She rushed out.

I felt my jaw drop. I shut it and was about to say something.

"That's not all…" she said looking at me.

"Damn, girl. Get it!" I said, playing shoving her shoulder.

She looked even more hesitant to say what else they did, so I started taking guesses.

"Blowjob?" she hesitated and then nodded.

"Did he go down on you?" I asked her. She blushed even harder as she slowly nodded.

"Is there more? I'm running out of ideas. I can't really think of anything else." I asked her.

"That's all…" she trailed off.

"Geez, girl. I've only made out with Cloud." I admitted.

"Really? I thought you guys would've done _something _by now." Aerith sounded more surprised than I was expecting.

"Give me some credit, Aerith! I'm not a whore." I said.

Aerith giggled. "What about you, Yuffie?"

Yuffie actually _blushed_. "Well… we've made out."

I rolled my eyes. "Duh! We sa-" I cut myself off before I could finish that sentence.

"What. Do. You. Mean?" she asked dangerously.

"Uh, well, we kind of saw you guys locking lips at Wildcat…" I said carefully. I think I saw some flames in her eyes. Yuffie looked ready to launch herself at me.

"Who else saw?" she asked.

"The guys…" I said carefully.

She digested this and then smiled. "Ok."

I gaped at her sudden change in character.

"Oh and I gave him a handjob but that's it." She said nonchalantly.

I groaned. "Is _everyone _more experienced than me?" I complained.

Yuffie giggled. "Probably. Have you ever done anything like what we've done?" she asked curiously.

I spluttered. "Of course! What kind of loser would I be if I've never done that stuff?"

"She hasn't done anything." Aerith clarified after I stopped talking.

Yuffie howled with laughter. "Who would've thought?"

"Why is this so funny?" I complained.

Aerith giggled along with Yuffie's laughter. "Come on guys. It's really not that big of a deal!" I said, a blush rising to my cheeks."

I pouted and when Yuffie noticed she said "Aw, poor muffin. Is someone upset?"

I refused to look at her. She stroked my arm seductively. "Come on, baby. You know you can't resist me."

I looked over at her face. And burst out laughing. She was giving me her "bedroom eyes."

"Oh no. Definitely not." I caressed her knee very lesbian-ly.

Aerith just watched us in shock. Yuffie and I laughed at the look on her face.

"You guys are so… weird together. I don't see why you feel the need to act lesbian around each other." Aerith said.

It was true. We acted this way all the time. Especially around Aerith because it freaked her out.

"Because we love each other!" Yuffie proclaimed and threw her arms around my neck.

Aerith just shook her head and glanced at clock on the wall. "Oh shoot! It's almost nine."

Yuffie shot up off her seat. "What? Shit! Reno is supposed to pick me up for a date at 9:30! I have to get ready!" Yuffie sprinted from the room and headed for the bathroom. We heard the shower turn on and then a huge crash. A few minutes later there was an "OH SHIT!" yelled.

"Think we should go check on her?" Aerith asked me.

I shook my head. "I think she'll be ok."

Aerith stood up and said "Zack said he was going to take me out tonight too. Do you want me to cancel?" She knew I didn't have anything planned for tonight and she felt bad for me.

"No it's ok. I haven't had "me" time in a while. It'll be nice. I'll give myself a pedicure and watch movies on the Hallmark channel and play with Smokey and, well, you get the picture." I told her.

"Ok." She said and went to her room to get ready for her date.

I, too, left the kitchen and went into the living room. I turned on the TV and hung out until Yuffie left and then Aerith.

At around ten I got bored of watching TV and decided to put my iPod on. Mother Lover by The Lonely Island featuring Justin Timberlake started to play. I laughed and turned it up and then started singing.

"Oh dang. What is it, dog? I forgot it's Mother's Day. Didn't get a gift for her. Other plans got in the way." My music was up so loud that I couldn't hear the knocking.

At the chorus I added some crazy dance moves along with my singing.

"Cause I'm a mother lover, you're a mother lover, we should fuck each other's mothers!" I turned around to see my door swing open and Vincent drop several DVD cases and a plastic bag with chips peeking out of the top.

I froze and we eyed each other warily. All the while J.T and Adam Sandberg continued singing: "Cuz every Mother's day needs a Mother's Night. If doing it is wrong, I don't want to be right!"

I blushed and quickly rushed over and paused my music. The sudden silence was stifling. "Um…" I said awkwardly brushing my hair out of my face.

"What… what was that song?" he asked me. He looked completely… shell-shocked.

"Um… Mother Lover?" I said sheepishly.

He slowly bent down and picked up the stuff he'd dropped. When he was standing up straight again he asked confusedly "And why was it on your iPod?"

"Well actually it's a very funny song and- wait a minute! How did you get into my apartment?" I asked him.

"Oh. The key under the mat of course." He made it sound like I was stupid for not having figured that out already.

"Who says that I want you here?" I asked folding my arms across my chest and raising my eyebrows.

"Well I can leave if you want." He suggested. He turned as if he was about to leave.

"No! I was just, um, being sarcastic. Yeah, sarcastic." I said stupidly. I face-palmed.

Vincent smirked at me and stepped further into my apartment. "I brought movies… and chips."

"What kind?" I asked, interested.

"Dill Pickle." He replied.

"I love dick pickle chips!" I said. I rushed forward, grabbed his arm and pulled him into the living room. I threw him on the couch and grabbed the movies out of his hand.

Hmm, Paranormal Activity 1 and Sleeping Beauty. I looked at him. He grinned and shrugged.

I chose one and put it in the DVD player and then joined Vincent on the couch. I pulled a big blanket over the both of us and sat back and relaxed.

"Oh my God! How stupid is this chick? She meets this strange guy in the _woods _no less. He starts singing to her the song that has just been singing. She doesn't run away, she just starts dancing with him. I mean, for all she knows he could be some murder rapist guy!" I exclaimed.

I looked over to see that Vincent was laughing. "I think you're overthinking it." He said between giggles.

I shook my head. "And I think you're stupid. We both have our opinions but mine is more right and actually matters."

"Tifa, Tifa, Tifa. I don't think my life was ever this exciting before I knew you." He complimented… I think.

"HOLY SHIT! AHHH! HER FOOT JUST GOT LIFTED INTO THE AIR! OH MY GOD NO!" I screamed and jumped onto Vincent's lap.

"Tifa… not so loud." He said. He rubbed small circles on my back to calm me down.

I calmed down but a few minutes later. "NO! DID YOU JUST SEE THAT! I'M SO FUCKING SCARED!" I yelled, cowering against Vincent.

"Honestly, Tifa. You're too loud. The neighbors are going to get pissed off." he said. I buried my face in his chest. I was so freaked out from this movie I knew I was definitely going to have nightmares tonight.

After the movie was over I shakily got to my feet and went into the kitchen and fixed myself a hot chocolate. I offered to make one for Vincent but he declined.

After my hot chocolate was made I went back into the living room and sat down next to Vincent. The clock on the wall said it was a little past two in the morning.

I set my drink down on the coffee table and rubbed my eyes. I leaned my head against Vincent's shoulder and yawned. "I'm so tired."

"I think I might head out soon." He murmured.

I tensed up. "No! Stay here with me tonight. Otherwise I'll have nightmares." I said.

He hesitated and then said. "If that's what you want."

I relaxed and snuggled closer to him. I closed my eyes and relaxed even more.

I slipped off into sleep.

***VINCENT***

I looked down at the slumbering girl resting on me. She was so beautiful that my chest ached. But she wasn't mine. And if everything went right then she never would be. I couldn't be with her. I'm not the right man for her. I don't deserve her… after everything I've done. Cloud was the one she deserved to be with, and he deserved someone as beautiful and kind-hearted as Tifa.

This was tough. To be so close to her… but not be close to her… I sighed and she stirred in her sleep. I froze. She murmured something and then fell deeper into her sleep.

I looked intently into her face trying to glean some idea of what she was dreaming about. Nothing.

Her cat jumped onto the couch and snuggled next to Tifa. It eyed me warily before it closed its eyes. I was used to this treatment from animals though. They had never liked me. Maybe what they said about animals being a good judge of people was right. Her cat certainly had a good reason to be cautious about me.

"I would never hurt her." I whispered. The cat huffed and shifted a little like he didn't believe me.

I had been trying to make up for my past all this time… but even now doubts plagued me. What if all the things I did to try to right my wrongs were useless? What if I never found peace from the things in my past?

Maybe nothing would ever absolve me of my past sins but I would never stop trying.

Cloud trusted me beyond a doubt, almost as much as trusted Zack. He trusted me to take care of Tifa. He completely believed in me.

Almost unconsciously, my hand lifted up and gently started stroking Tifa's hair. It was very soft and soothed me. I felt my eyes slide close. The buzzing in my pocket soon interrupted my peace.

I quickly pushed Tifa off my shoulder and gently rested her against the couch.

I walked to the kitchen before I answered the phone. "Vincent."

"I have something I need you to do." It was Cloud. I wondered what he would think if he knew Tifa and I had spent tonight together.

"What is it?" I asked.

Cloud explained what he wanted me to do. "Ok. I'll get to work on it right away."

"Good. When you get the information come find me." he said and then hung up.

I slid my phone back into my pocket and went back over to the couch.

Tifa was sleeping as peacefully as ever. I envied her for her… innocence. Even Shinra hadn't been able to take it away. I wasn't so lucky…

Pushing those thoughts from my mind I leaned over the back of the couch and gently kissed her forehead.

Then I straightened and left the apartment closing the door carefully so it wouldn't make a noise.

***TIFA***

My eyes flew open at the soft click. I looked around the darkened apartment and shivered. There was no sign of Vincent. Maybe he was in the bathroom. I got up and walked towards the bathroom. The door was open and no one was inside.

"Vincent?" I called out softly. There was no silence.

Suddenly I heard Smokey growling. Something I had never heard the small kitten do before.

"Smokey? Come here, boy. What's wrong?" I asked. I headed back into the living room and froze.

Smokey hissed and swung his paw with his claws extended at the intruder.

I took a step back. Smokey ran around the couch and stood at my feet. I picked him up and held him to my chest.

"W-Who are you? Why are you here?" I asked. Whoever it was was shrouded in shadow so I couldn't see his face.

He stepped forward and moonlight from a nearby window slanted in over his face. Silver hair and pale skin practically glowed in the moonlight.

"I thought you would have recognized me." he said.

"Sephiroth." I breathed. Smokey hissed again.

"As for why I'm here, Mr. Shinra sent me to retrieve you. He has your mission ready and he wants you to go on it right away. He sent me to retrieve you." He explained calmly.

"Oh." Was all I said.

We stood there for a moment before Sephiroth asked "Is there anything you need before we leave?"

"Let me write a note to my roommates first so they don't freak out." I said.

I went into the kitchen and set Smokey down on the floor. Sephiroth followed me. I ignored him as I dug around in some drawers until I found a blank sheet of paper and a working pen.

_Guys- _

_ Something came up. I'll be out of town for a while. I'm not sure when I'll be back. Don't worry about me though. I can take of myself. I'll try to call you guys when I can._

_ -Tifa_

_P.S. Aerith will you take care of Smokey. Make sure you feed him half a can of food three times a day. Please empty his litter box too. Thanks so much. _

_P.S.S. Yuffie don't go too crazy over this. _

I reread my letter and then deemed it acceptable. I left it on the counter where I knew they would see it.

Smokey was starting to meow loudly. I reached down and picked him up. "I'll only be gone for a little while, Smokey. Mommy will come back soon and take care of you. For now, Aerith is going to take care of you." I kissed the top of his head, and then set him down.

I looked up and my eyes met Sephiroth's. "Now what?" I asked him.

He gestured that I follow him into the living room. I did.

He walked straight up to a window and opened it. "Are you going to jump out of that?" I asked him.

"Yes, of course." He replied.

"Well… how am I going to get down? I'm not jumping out of a goddamn window." I said.

"You'll be on my back." He explained.

I decided not to argue. Sephiroth looked like he was about to get really scary if I argued. The calm before the storm so to speak.

Sephiroth squatted down a little and I jumped onto his back. Smokey started making these terrible noises. Like he was crying or something. I had to blink several times to keep the tears from falling over.

Sephiroth put one leg over the side of the window. "Wait!" I said. He stiffened.

"What?" he sounded annoyed.

"Let me down. I want to put Smokey in my bedroom so he doesn't try and follow me and accidentally fall out of the window." I explained.

He sighed heavily and then let me get off his back.

Smokey stopped meowing. I picked him up and brought him to my room. He snuggled against my chest. I couldn't stop some of the tears from trickling down my cheeks. Smokey licked my cheek comfortingly.

We reached my room and I put him on my bed. He looked at me, confused as I checked his water bowl to make sure he had some water in there.

Before he could get off my bed I rushed out of my bedroom and quickly shut the door. Instantly, the crying started. I heard him start scratching against the door, and his sounds were so loud I was afraid the neighbors would hear.

I reluctantly walked towards Sephiroth and got back on his back.

He again threw his leg over the windowsill. He hesitated for a moment before he brought his other leg over. He was sitting on the windowsill now, posing to push himself off.

He slipped off the windowsill and started falling. In the apartment behind me, I heard Smokey's cries fade.

** That was kind of a crappy chapter. I wasn't feeling very inspired this time… sigh…. **

**Faebsel: It's what happens _after _the mission that's important… hehe. I used to watch Glee but then it started getting to dramatic and I got tired of it and stopped watching. I still like listening to the songs though. **

**Aiko Yamarashi: I'm glad you like my story. **

**Mickey R3mix: NO! I disappointed you! Damn! I can't update that fast! It's so hard… That's what she said by the way. ;P Did you like Yuffie in this chapter? I tried to make her really crazy lol. She can't be tamed. Haha. **

**Shivana: No problem. It was a really good idea so I was like hey, why not! YAY! I'm glad this story has some semblance of reality. It's not completely out in left field lol. I love Vincent too. He's just… Vincent. He can do whatever he wants. **

** If you guys have any ideas or scenes or even lines that you want to see in this story I might consider putting it into my story. I'm having a little bit of writer's block… or maybe I'm just feeling uninspired. I don't know. I'll try my best to be inspired for the next chapter though. I hope today is just one of those days. **


	13. Mission: Impossible

Sephiroth landed surprisingly light on his feet. Considering he had just jumped out of a fifth story window with a 120 pound woman on his back. He set me down and led me to an inconspicuous car parked by the curb.

He opened the passenger side door for me and then closed it once I'd gotten inside. I guess chivalry wasn't dead after all.

I watched him walk around the front of the car. He joined me in the car and turned it on. The car rumbled to life and he peeled away from the curb.

It was a silent drive to the Shinra building. "Do you know anything about the mission I'm supposed to go on?" I asked him after a few moments.

"Only that I'm going on it with you. Mr. Shinra wants to brief us at the same time." Sephiroth said.

"Oh." I replied.

We reached the building a few minutes later. Sephiroth pulled up next to the building and got out. I got out too. I saw him toss his keys at a guy near the door.

I hurried to catch up to him as his legs were longer than mine and I didn't want to get left behind.

He strode through the lobby. Even at this time of night (or should I say morning) there was people here. They outright stared at both of us. I noticed that the women were giving me particularly venomous glares. Old girlfriends?

We reached the bank of elevators and he pushed the up button. A second later a cheery _ding! _was heard. The doors slid open and we stepped inside together.

"Why were those people staring at us?" I asked curiously.

He glanced down at me and studied my face for a moment before he looked at the rows of numbers on one side of the doors. He pressed the number 31.

"They were fans of mine." He replied eventually.

I snorted. "_Fans_?"

"Genesis, Angeal and I are very popular." He explained.

"Especially with the ladies." I said, nudging his side with my elbow.

He shrugged. "I guess." Was all he said.

Jeez, what a chatterbox. He never seemed to stop talking. *Insert heavy sarcasm here*

The elevator stopped and the doors opened again. I vaguely remembered from one of my dreams that when my guard had taken me up here we had to identify ourselves. Apparently, Sephiroth got special treatment.

I followed Sephiroth into the room and stopped in front of Rufus' desk.

"Hello, Tifa. This is a little earlier than expected, I know, but I have your mission ready now and I thought you might want a head start on it." The man behind the desk said.

"Of course. I'm only missing out on precious time that I could be spending with friends." I said sarcastically.

Rufus ignored this and continued on. "For your mission we are sending you to Nibelheim. You know where that is, right?" he asked.

I nodded. I didn't really but oh well.

"We need you to investigate a Mako reactor there. We are sending you, Sephiroth, Genesis and Angeal." Rufus continued.

"Why are you sending so many out?" Sephiroth asked sounding confused.

"This is a mission of the utmost important. We want to guarantee its success." He explained.

Sephiroth only 'hmm-ed' in response.

I wondered why he was sending me with all these experienced guys when I was only a rookie.

"Tifa I'm sending you because of your people skills. Out of the whole group you are the only woman. People will be more willing to open up to an innocent looking woman then they would three big men." Rufus explained.

That was creepy. Was he reading my mind?

"Oh, well, I guess that makes sense. When do we leave?" I asked.

"I'd like to leave in an hour." A voice said from behind me. Genesis stood behind me but he wasn't the one who had spoken. A guy that looked like he could be Zack's father stood next to Genesis. This must be Angeal.

He held out his hand for me to shake and said "I'm Angeal; you must be Tifa. I've heard a lot about you." He offered a small smile that seemed very fatherly. I smiled back. "Nothing bad, I hope."

He smile turned into a grin. "It was all good. You made quite the impression on Genesis. Sephiroth didn't have much to say, like always." I laughed. He seemed to be the joker out of the three. I could tell we were going to get along.

Genesis rolled his eyes and Sephiroth just remained silent. "Are we done here?" Angeal asked Rufus.

"Yes, you may go." Rufus replied. We all headed towards the elevator.

"So how did you get involved in Shinra?" Angeal asked me conversationally. I could tell the other two were listening also. I ignored them and answered his question nonchalantly.

"Oh, I was kidnapped."

Angeal laughed. "But seriously." He said.

"Honestly. I got kidnapped. Apparently I'm too good at things for my own good." I joked.

"Oh! I think I remember now. A few of the rookies were talking about the girl that had managed to escape. The way they told the story it sounded like you were six feet tall, muscular, and breathed fire. I would have never guessed that girl was you." Angeal said, laughing even harder.

"They just didn't want to admit that they were bested by a girl. You know, they have to keep that manly man reputation up." I joked.

By now, we reached the room where Genesis and I had gotten our supplies for my first mission.

I wasn't really sure what I'd need for this mission so I decided to ask Angeal to help a girl out.

"What should I pack?" I asked him. He glanced up from the box he had been digging through.

"Well, you'll need a weapon, some armor, a med pack, a canteen, and some food." He replied. He stood up. "You're good with swords right?" he asked me.

I nodded. He walked over to the wall of swords and looked at them all for a moment. He pulled one down and then tested it in his hands. He handed it to me.

It was shorter than the one I had used for my first mission. The blade was about the size of my forearm. It felt pretty good in my hands. Angeal also pulled a small dagger off the wall. He handed it to me. "Only use this when you have nothing else to fall back on. It requires close combat, so it's more dangerous to use than a sword or a gun." He told me.

"Now, as for armor, these just came in the other day. Unfortunately, they are only for the women in SOLDIER." He looked me up and down and I forced myself not to fidget as he sized me up. He then walked over to a wardrobe looking contraption. He pressed a button and the door slid open.

He slicked through some black articles looking clothing and then pulled one off the rack. He walked over to me and held it up to my body.

"This looks like it'll fit." He said. I looked down at it. It was one piece and looked like it would be skintight. I rubbed a piece of it between my fingers. It wasn't like any fabric I had ever felt before. It had almost a leathery feel to it. But it was stretchy too and thin.

"Go put it on." Angeal said handing it to me and pushing me towards a door. I walked towards the door and opened it carefully. It appeared to be a bathroom. I locked the door behind me and quickly got out of my clothes. Apparently I wasn't supposed to wear anything underneath the suit. Frowning, I held the suit open. I stepped inside. It was every bit as tight as I thought it would be. It even had little footsies that molded themselves to my feet. By the rubber on the bottom I figured I wouldn't need to wear shoes.

I wondered how I was going to get the damn thing closed though. I tried looking for a zipper or buttons with my fingers but didn't find any. I pulled the fabric together and was surprised when I let it go that the fabric stuck together. I pulled the fabric together all the way to the top and then glanced at myself in the mirror. I looked pretty sexy. Like Catwoman or something.

I picked up my clothes and exited the bathroom. Genesis, Sephiroth, and Angeal all appeared to be ready to go.

I blushed as they took in my appearance. This suit showed _every _curve.

Angeal cleared his throat and handed me a backpack. I saw that my sword was already attached to it. The dagger was attached to one of the straps.

I shrugged on the backpack. "Ready to go?" I asked them.

"Let's go." Angeal said in answer.

We all followed him out of the supply room and down several hallways and staircases.

We walked outside of a door and found ourselves on top of the Shinra roof. A helicopter was waiting for us. I wondered how we had ended up on the roof when I know for sure we had taken several staircases down. Whatever.

We walked over to the helicopter and got inside. There were two sets of benches with enough space for two people on each. I sat next Sephiroth and across from Angeal. He grinned at me.

The pilot turned around in his seat and showed us where to get the headsets so we could talk to each other without having to shout.

The pilot returned back to his seat and started preparations for take off.

I grinned at Angeal, giddy. This was the first time I'd ever been in a helicopter before.

"Is this your first time on a helicopter?" he asked me.

I nodded enthusiastically. "It's pretty cool, huh?" he said.

"Yeah! It's so loud though… how long are we going to be on here for?" I asked him.

"The headsets protect your ears. We'll probably be in Nibelheim in about three or four hours." He replied.

I nodded, and looked around. The helicopter was a pretty small one. There was a little curtain separating us from the pilot on Angeal and Genesis' side. The benches were so close together that Angeal's and my knees kept bumping against each other. My thigh also rested against Sephiroth's.

Genesis had a book out. Probably Loveless. He was mouthing the words as he read them. Sephiroth was just staring off into space. It was a little creepy. He looked over and caught me staring. I looked away, feeling my face heat up slightly.

There was a window near me, but it was a little high so I could only see snatches of land and water here and there.

I shifted a little, trying to get more comfortable on the narrow bench. My eyes met Angeal's and we grinned at each other.

***LOVE***LOVE***LOVE***

I spent the rest of the helicopter ride talking to Angeal. At one point I brought up his astonishing similarity with Zack.

He laughed. "You know, Zack? That boy knows more women than he knows what to do with. You're not one of his scorned fangirls are you?" he asked, eyeing me warily.

I laughed at that and shook my head. "No, no, no. It's nothing like that. My best friend is his girlfriend. Or I guess fiancée." I said.

"What? Zack's getting married? That bastard didn't even tell me!" Angeal bellowed.

I winced. "It just happened recently, actually. He probably just hasn't had time to tell you yet."

Angeal settled down. "What is she like? Zack has only mentioned her a few times."

"Well, she has beautiful long, light brown hair and green eyes. She's a little shorter than I am. She's also the nicest and sweetest girl you will probably ever meet. She's really smart too." I said.

"She sounds like she'd be perfect for Zack. I give them my blessing." He said.

That reminded me… "The way you talk about Zack, it makes him seem like you two are related. And your appearance is similar to his…" I trailed off.

"Zack and I aren't related, but I was Zack's mentor when he was just a rookie. You can say that I sort of became the father figure in his life. Back then, he was a total mess, didn't trust anyone and all around rough on the edges. Eventually I got him to trust me and we worked on his personality." Angeal shrugged as if it was no big deal.

"Wow. So you're the reason why he's a really awesome dude today…" I trailed off.

Angeal chuckled. "Don't let him hear you say that. It'll go straight to his head."

"Oh. Trust me. I _know_." I agreed.

"I'm glad that Zack turned out so well. He deserves the best in life…" Angeal trailed off. He had a faraway look in his eyes for a moment. He snapped out of it a second later and said "If you know Zack, then you must know his best friend, Cloud."

I face-palmed.

"I take it that you do." he said, amused.

"We're actually… dating." I said slowly.

Angeal's eyebrows rose. "Things haven't been working out between us lately though. It's mostly my fault. I've been… hiding things from him." I said.

"Come on, girl! Cloud's… hot." Angeal winked at me here. I just rolled my eyes. "What have you been hiding from him? Is it another boyfriend?" He looked at me disapprovingly.

"Actually… it's SOLDIER. He doesn't want me to be involved, but I need to be for my own reasons." I explained.

"Is he being overly possessive? He hasn't hit you, has he? Do I need to teach that boy a lesson?" Angeal threatened.

I giggled a little. He really was like a father. "No. He's perfect. He just wants me to be safe. And I _know _he would never hit me."

"So… honestly, I don't really see what the problem is." Angeal said, frowning.

I frowned too. "Well I didn't exactly tell him that I was joining SOLDIER. So I think he'll be really pissed off when I get back."

"You mean you didn't even tell him that you were leaving on a mission for who knows who long?" Angeal exclaimed.

I cringed. "Not exactly."

"And what does 'not exactly' mean?" he asked forming air quotes.

"I left a note for my roommate and I told her to pass on the news." I explained.

He face-palmed. "Tifa, Tifa, Tifa. _Of course_, he's going to be pissed off! Wouldn't you be a little upset too if Cloud just up and left out of the blue with only a _note _left behind?"

"What I need to do is more important than Cloud! The note had to be enough! I can't let Cloud get in the way of what I need to do!" I argued.

Angeal's face grew dark. "Do you have Cloud's number memorized?"

I reluctantly nodded.

"Good, because as soon as we get off this helicopter you are calling him up and telling him what's going on." Angeal ordered.

I crossed my arms across my chest and shook my head stubbornly.

"Do it, or when we get back to HQ I'll make sure you never go on another mission like this again." Angeal threatened.

Whoa. That was scary. I didn't show my fear though. I sighed. "Fine. I'll call him."

"Good." Was all he said.

We were silent for about ten minutes, neither of us knowing what to say. Finally, Angeal asked me a question about my daily life and the conversation continued on. By the glint in his eye I knew that Angeal wouldn't let what I promised go.

** Ok, this chapter is FAR shorter than what I planned on it being but I wanted to stop the chapter there so I could do some of the mission in the next chapter, along with other things…**

** I also have two things I need to ask about. First, how do you guys feel about a little competition? It's a toss-up between drawing any scene from this story and guessing how you think I'm going to end this story. (Yes, I know what I'm going to do now.) **

** Second, I think I'm going to start replying through PMs IF YOU LEAVE A SIGNED REVIEW. If you don't leave a signed review I'll just reply on the chapter. **

**REVIEW REPLIES:**

**Shivana: Who knows what's going to happen on this mission? Oh wait, I do! MWAHAHAHA! My writer's block is gone and I'm back to my hyperactive crazy freak show self. Umm… *looks guilty* I didn't mean to put dick pickle chips. I meant dill… Whoops. You can tell what I was thinking about ;)**

**Spanish girl: I'm sorry that you don't like the Vincent/Tifa stuff. I kind of wanted to put a little love triangle thing in there. It isn't a betrayal because it's only on Vincent's part. Tifa just sees Vincent as a really close friend who is easy to hang out with and he knows that Tifa would never hurt Cloud by cheating on him. Besides, don't you have a little faith in Vincent that _he _wouldn't do something like that to Cloud either. I'm glad you like the story overall though! Half the time, even _I _don't know what I'm planning, which is probably why it's hard for people to guess what's going to happen.**

**Faebsel: I feel kind of sorry for Vincent too. He has a hard life lol. Ah well. I'm kind of done with Glee. In fact, I'm kind of done with every show right now. I'm a little too busy for TV. Sad, I know. And it makes me feel good that even when I have writer's block and no inspiration I can still manage a halfway decent chapter. Well, at least you think so anyway. **

**Aiko Yamarashi: I know, I love Smokey. It was hard for me to make Tifa leave him. I was tempted to make her take him with her… if that makes sense to you, because it sounds weird to me lol. HAHA I can totally see this awesome, badass guy about to leap out a window and then his long hair gets stuck on a nail or something and rips out a huge chunk of hair. That would be the funniest thing I would ever see in my life. **

**Cloudlover2989: Yeah, I personally think they would look cute together with their dark hair and dark eyes… Is Yuffie too crazy in a bad way or a good way? Cloud will soon be making an appearance very, very soon. Like, next chapter soon… I mean um… Lol and I love your ideas. They're so dramatic! They sound like something I would think of. Maybe I'll have to put some of them to work… ;D**

**Micky R3mix: I'm glad you liked Yuffie. Lol and I got the reference haha. I'm blonde but I'm not _that _blonde. COME ON! YOU CAN DO IT! To find inspiration for myself, I listen to music or read other stories on . I also talk to my CLOSEST friend Casey. She knows I like to write and so she helps out. Yeah, Yuffie is going to be out of commission for a while just because there is other stuff going on. And Aerith's wedding… all I can say is there is going to be major angst! Well, aren't you glad I figured out what to do for this chapter! And my imagination is back! :DDDDDD One of my teachers once told me that I had the best imagination she's ever seen. I was like seven at the time and was more open about writing stories and what not but her compliment has stuck with me. **

**So anyway, any questions, comments, flames just hit the review button. It's the answer to all your troubles… at least with this story. **

**Oh yes, and if the competition does happen possible prizes may be:**

**A one-shot of anything you want it to be… no lemons lol **

**Virtual cake/cookies (whatever tickles your fancy) ;)**

**I can't really think of anything else, but if you think of something feel free to tell me. **

**Do you guys like my new penname? I like it. I just thought I'd let you know that yes, it's still me I'm just under a new name. **

**Also (last thing, I promise), have any of you ever heard the song Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift? If you haven't I suggest you totally check it out. It's really good. **


	14. The Phone Call and Aladdin

** I'd like to apologize in advance because I don't think I'm going to get this done before the end of this weekend. Tomorrow (Saturday, January 27, 2012) I'm going to the mall and getting my hair thinned AND my mom is taking me shopping. **

** Anyway, I'm sure you don't care about me all that much. You just want to get to the story. So onto the story we shall go. **

Once we landed, we were rushed into a hotel. It was more of a large house. There were about five rooms in total. We were placed in one on the second floor. There were two king sized beds in the large room. A picture of a melancholy looking girl sitting on a chair was on the wall. I sighed and sat down on the beds. The sun was just beginning to rise. I yawned and lay down.

"Ah, ah, ah." Angeal said wagging a finger at me. He held his phone out to me and I groaned.

"Can't it wait till after I wake up? I'm so tired." I whined rolling over.

"Nope. You need to get used to not sleeping often." He chided.

I rolled back over and eyed him. "Are you crazy? I can hardly function with eight hours of sleep. I don't know how you expect me to go with less than that."

"That was before mako. Now, you'll be able to go longer without getting tired." Angeal explained.

I closed my eyes and sighed. "I feel so tired though. Who knew sitting on an uncomfortable bench in a helicopter was so tiring?

Angeal hauled me up and made me stand on my feet. He led me out of the room and down the stairs. We exited the building. He took me around to the back of the building and leaned against the wall of the hotel.

"You're not going to rape me, are you?" I asked him warily. He laughed heartily but didn't answer.

He dug around in his pocket and then took out his cell phone and handed it to me. I sighed and accepted it. It was one of those cheapo flip phones. I flipped it open and dialed Cloud's number from memory.

The phone rang a few times. Then I heard a sleepy sounding "Hello?"

I sighed. "Cloud?" I asked.

I heard him move around on the other side of the phone. He was probably sitting up in his bed right now.

"Tifa? Whose phone are you calling from? What's the matter? Are you ok? Do I need to come pick you up from somewhere?" he asked worriedly. I stifled a little giggle at all his worrying.

"No, Cloud. I'm perfectly fine. I'm calling from a friend's phone… Listen…" I sighed again. This was going to be one tough conversation.

I proceeded to tell him about Sephiroth appearing in the apartment and taking me to the Shinra building. I told him about the meeting with Rufus but I didn't tell him about Angeal, Genesis, or Sephiroth accompanying me on the mission. Basically, all I told him was that I was on a mission and that I was safe.

Throughout the whole conversation he'd been completely silent. He hadn't said a word.

"I'm coming to get you." He finally said. I could hear that he was quietly seething.

"No, don't." I said.

"I'm coming." He said with a note of finality. A no-nonsense tone.

"If you come after me…" I trailed off trying to think of something.

"What will you do, Tifa? Ignore me? You've already done that. I survived." He said. I hated how patronizing he sounded right now.

I felt my blood begin to boil under my skin and I knew we were getting into dangerous territory here.

"Cloud, if you come after me, consider our relationship over." I said evenly, completely serious.

There was a pause and then "We'll see." Then he hung up on me. He actually. Hung. Up. On. Me.

I was about to throw the phone when Angeal caught my arm and gently took the phone from my crushing grip.

"I. Cannot. Believe. He. Just did. That." I seethed. I was furious. Cloud was going to get it when I got back.

"Well… He _is _Cloud. He doesn't exactly have the best people skills." Angeal said slowly.

I just huffed, and then stomped back to the room. Genesis and Sephiroth were occupying both beds.

I glared at Genesis who was on the bed closest to me. He was too engrossed in his book to notice me though.

"Move." I said quietly.

He looked up at me. "Huh? Did you say something?"

"I said. Move." I repeated.

"Uh, no thanks." He replied.

I picked up the edge of the covers and yanked upwards, hard. He flipped off the bed and onto the floor.

"Thanks for moving." I said and then got under the covers. I snuggled deep into the warmth and heard Genesis mutter. "What's _her _problem?" I threw a pillow at him and smirked when I heard it thump against something and then he said. "_Hey!_ That was the _zipper_!"

I fell deeper into sleep, surprised at how quickly I was falling asleep.

***LOVE***LOVE***LOVE***

CLOUD

"Why didn't you tell me you were sending her on a mission?" I yelled as soon as I entered Rufus' office.

He looked up from his desk, looking unsurprised to see me in front of him.

"You know I'm not allowed to give out mission details. Besides, I thought she would have told you she was going on a mission very soon herself. Obviously, she thought it was important that you didn't find out." he said easily.

"Assign me to the mission." I spat out.

He looked back down at his desk, examining a file. "I'm afraid not. I have the best of the best with her. She's in _very _good hands."

"I'm the best. You know I am!" I argued.

"Yes, but are you the best when it comes to dealing with people close to you? No, as you proved in _that_ mission." He didn't have to clarify which mission it was. The one where I'd been forced to choose between the bad guy and Zack. It was a no brainer.

"It all worked out in the end." I said.

"I can't risk that happening again. Especially not this mission. It's of utmost importance." Rufus said to me.

"If it's so important why did you send Tifa? She's still a rookie. Please, let me go. I'll take her place if you want me to. I just want her to be safe." I pleaded.

Rufus finally looked up at me again and our eyes met. I don't know what he saw in my eyes, but all I saw in his was cold emptiness.

After a few heart wrenching moments Rufus finally said "The next helicopter out to Nibelheim leaves in thirty minutes. If you're not on it, you'll lose your only chance."

I nodded once and then ran to the bank of elevators.

30 minutes later…

I just barely made it to the helicopter in time. There were only supplies going to the mako reactor on this helicopter. I had to squeeze between a huge box of gloves and a box of goggles to sit down.

I leaned my head back against the wall and closed my eyes. I had about four hours to kill. I might as well sleep…

***LOVE***LOVE***LOVE***

When I woke, the others were gone. Sun was streaming in now, and I had to squint so I could look around the room. I flung my arms out to stretch and my left arm landed on something crinkly. I rolled over slightly to see what it was.

I picked up a piece of paper with spiky writing on it.

_Went out to check out the place. Will inform you later. _

_ -A _

Angeal was probably being vague to throw off anyone not involved in the mission.

I sighed and then got off the bed. I crumpled up the note and threw it in the trash. I decided I'd take a shower.

I walked into the bathroom and peeled the black suit off of me. I took a sniff of it. It still smelled like new. Interesting, I wondered how long it would retain that smell.

I quickly took a shower and towel-dried my hair until it was only a little damp. Then I changed back into my leather suit. I wished I had some sweats I could chill in. I sighed. Oh well.

I walked out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom. The guys still weren't back. I idly wondered how long they'd be.

I glanced at the clock and saw that it said 1:32. My stomach growled and I frowned. Was there anything to eat in this "hotel" room? I looked around and noticed a mini fridge in the corner. I rushed over to it and flung the door open. It was disappointingly empty. Pouting, I glanced around once more. I took stock of the microwave, and stove/oven.

Maybe I could cook something?

I grabbed the key (still had old-fashioned key locks on the doors) and headed down to the lobby.

"Um, excuse me?" I said to the middle-aged man working the counter.

"Huh? Oh, yes?" he asked. He looked up from the book he'd been reading and eyed my tight suit bemusedly.

"Is there a Wal-Mart around here?" I asked him.

"A… Wall… Mart?" he asked me, confused.

I mentally face-palmed and said "Is there a food store nearby?" I clarified.

"Oh! Yeah, once you exit this building turn left and walk down the street. The fourth building on the right is a food store." He said.

"Ok, thanks." I said.

I turned around and walked out of the building. I followed his directions and found they were pretty accurate.

When I entered, the door gave a pleasant chime from the bell over the door. There were a few stands with some fruits and vegetables here and there, and about five aisles of preserved food, baking supplies, etc.

I sighed and grabbed a cart and started pushing it along. I first visited the vegetable and fruit section. I grabbed a bag of potatoes, some carrots, some onions, a little bit of garlic, some apples, a handful of oranges, and a pound of bananas.

I headed to the aisles and walked up and down them. I picked up a large pot and pan, enough dishes for all of us, some cutlery, a few cutting knives, a cutting board, salt and pepper and a packet of chips ahoy chocolate chips.

I went to the cash register. A boy about sixteen years old with an unfortunate acne problem smiled at me as I approached. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

His eyes lingered on my chest and I cleared my throat to bring his attention back to my face.

"Good afternoon." He said, his smile widening to a smirk.

"Good afternoon to you too." I replied, and started loading the items in my cart onto the small conveyor belt.

"That's a lot of food for a little girl like yourself." He said, his eyes raking up and down my body.

"Oh, I'm not eating this alone. I'm here with a few friends." I explained.

"Well if your friends ever get boring come find me. I'll show you a good time." He said.

"I don't think she'll be bored of _me _anytime soon." A voice said.

I jumped a little and looked over to see Sephiroth standing beside me. I was a little surprised that he was my savior but I didn't bother asking questions.

"I don't know gramps, you might not be able to keep up with the likes of me." the cashier challenged. This kid was far too cocky for his own good. He deserved to have his ego taken down a few notches.

"Let's just say that height goes a long way for size…" Sephiroth said flatly. He sounded completely bored with this conversation and just wanted to leave.

The cashier flushed. He was shorter than I was and it looked like Sephiroth had hit a nerve.

"Look here you di-" He was cut off by Genesis suddenly appearing.

"I wouldn't say anymore if I were you." He warned.

"Why the hell should I be afraid of you?" he asked Genesis.

Honestly! This kid was going to get himself killed.

Genesis looked like he was ready to slaughter the kid but I put my hand on his forearm. "Why don't you guys go wait outside and I'll join you when I'm finished up here." I tossed in a smile for added effect and Genesis finally relented. Sephiroth turned and followed Genesis outside. Strangely, the bell over the door didn't even ring. I frowned at this but turned back to the boy.

"Alone at last." He said, creepily.

"Maybe I should lodge a formal complaint with the manager." I muttered under my breath.

"Sweet cheeks, I _am _the manager." He said.

I rolled my eyes. This guy was such a sleaze ball.

"How much do I owe you?" I asked him, ready to be out of here.

"Well from the looks of you, you owe me a good fuc-"

All of a sudden a black and blonde blur punched the cashier and he flew through the store.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you the _proper _way to talk to a lady?" A _very _familiar and angry voice said.

I face-palmed. Way to keep a low profile.

The cashier struggled to his feet. "Who the hell are you?"

"That doesn't matter. Apologize." My hero said.

The cashier shook his head. "Why should I? If she's going to dress like a skank-" again the guy was cut off. My hero hoisted him up by his shirt front and snarled in his face.

"Apologize. Right. Now."

The cashier looked positively terrified now. I could see his knees trembling and hid a small smile.

"S-sorry." He muttered, eyes downcast.

"Good." My hero dropped the man. "Now, for her troubles you're going to let her have everything for free."

"Y-yes, sir." The cashier replied, cowering.

My hero turned to me and stuffed everything into a few bags and stalked out of the store. I followed closely behind.

Sephiroth and Genesis weren't waiting outside. Suddenly, I remembered something.

"What the _hell_, Cloud?" I yelled at his back as he stomped in front of me.

His shoulders tensed and I could tell he was still angry.

"I thought I told you not to follow me!" I yelled.

Cloud stiffly put the grocery bags down on the ground and turned to face me.

"I followed you because I'm worried about you! You went on a dangerous mission without even _telling _anybody and you expect me not to come after you? What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn't come after you?" he yelled back.

"It doesn't matter anymore considering we're over anyway." I retorted.

"No." he said.

"No what?" I asked him.

"No, we're not over. We love each other. It's not over." He said simply.

"We _are _over. I don't care how long it takes to get that through your thick head but we aren't together anymore." I stalked past him. Or tried to at least. He grabbed my wrist and said, "We'll see."

"You wanna bet?" I asked him with attitude.

"Is that a challenge? Oh, Tifa, you know how much I love challenges." He said with a sadistic look in his eyes.

"You suck at challenges." I replied.

He pulled me in suddenly and crushed his lips to mine. It was… intense. He'd never kissed me like this before. I… liked it.

He pulled away and sent me a gorgeous smile that made me weak in the knees.

"See you at the hotel." He said, and then he was gone. I noticed he had taken the grocery bags with him.

I stumbled to the nearest place to sit. It was a little bench on the sidewalk underneath a tree.

I put my elbows on my knees and rested my head in my hands.

Was I fucking crazy? I wasn't really giving up Cloud was I? He certainly wasn't giving up me. At least not easily. But… I couldn't let go of my pride. I had told him it was over and I wasn't about to go back on my word. I was one stubborn chick.

I sighed and stood up. I'd better head back to the hotel before that creepy cashier got off his shift and came looking for me.

It seemed I was still a little dizzy (or something) from Cloud's kiss because I stumbled a few times on my way back to the hotel.

When I finally made it back to the room I found all the guys lounging around.

I walked in quietly and tried to be unnoticed. Unfortunately, Angeal decided that this would be the perfect moment to ask about the creep at the grocery store.

"So, the boys were just telling me about the grocery store…" he said casually.

I went to the counter where the groceries were sitting still in their bags. I put the things I needed on the counter and the rest away in the cupboards and fridge. I put some water in a pot and set it on the stove to boil.

I started cutting up the potatoes. "It was nothing." I replied.

"That's not what they were telling me." he said with a smirk.

I shrugged, almost cutting my finger off in the process.

"Well, obviously they have their facts screwed up." I retorted.

"That boy was seconds away from… ravaging you when I came in." Sephiroth said testily.

I put the potatoes in the now boiling water and started cutting up some carrots. "I could have handled it. I don't need guys coming to my rescue." I said.

Cloud came up behind me and put his hands on my waist. I made to stab his hand with the knife and he backed up. "Feisty." He said, and slapped my ass.

I whirled around and punched his shoulder. "Ow. Come on, baby. I'm just playing with you." He whined, rubbing his now sore shoulder.

I smiled sweetly and said "Well, maybe if you would stop _playing _and keep your hands to yourself, you might not get hurt." I then proceeded to turn around and finish chopping the carrots. When I was done, I threw them in with the potatoes.

I decided to make a fruit salad. I glanced around, while reaching into the bag of oranges.

Cloud was lounging on the couch flipping through channels on the TV. I launched an orange at his head. Right before it hit its target a hand flashed out and caught it.

"No dirty tricks now, Tifa." Genesis grinned.

I scowled and said "Well if you're going to interfere you might as well help me out with dinner."

Genesis shrugged and walked closer to the "kitchen." I put five oranges and plates out. "Will you peel each of the oranges and put them on these plates? Make sure you wash your hands first." I said.

Genesis washed his hands carefully in the sink and then proceeded to peel the oranges.

I cut up some apples and put a few pieces on each plate. I sliced a few bananas up and put those on each plate too. By this time Genesis was done peeling the oranges. "Split the pieces up too." I said. He did what I said.

I checked on the potatoes and carrots and found that they were done. I poured the water out of the pot and spooned some vegetables onto each plate.

I then had Genesis set the table for me. Angeal got off his ass and helped me bring the plates over to the now set table.

"Supper time!" I called. Cloud popped up off the couch and sprinted to the table. He was about to dig in when I grabbed his hand. "Wait for everyone else." I chided.

Sephiroth trudged over to the table and slumped down. He looked a little sickly and I eyed him warily.

"Are you ok?" I asked him.

"Just reaching my limit." Was all he said.

"Oh." I said.

Everyone else sat down and we all proceeded to dig in. I was starving and scarfed down everything. Well, almost everything. I had about five vegetables on my plate that I couldn't force myself to eat. I leaned back on my chair.

"Hey, you gonna eat those?" Cloud asked, nudging me.

I groaned and shook my head. He managed to spear all of them onto his fork and shove them into his mouth.

"What the? How did you do that?" I asked him.

He swallowed hard and then said "Magic." I rolled my eyes and shoved his shoulder.

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah, well at least I'm not crazy." He replied.

"You're _way _crazier than I am." I said.

He smirked and said "Crazy for you." I face-palmed when I realized I'd fallen right into his trap.

"That was lame." I said finally.

"I thought it was pretty good." Cloud said leaning in.

"Well, obviously you need to get your head checked." I said.

He reached up and cupped my cheek. I was too busy drowning in the blue sea that was his eyes to notice what he was doing. He leaned in a little farther and our lips met. He tasted like the potatoes he'd just eaten. I could also taste the lingering sweetness of apples.

"Hey, now, kids. None of that." A voice said interrupting us. I pulled away, berating myself for falling for his charm… again.

Cloud was smirking at me like the cat that just ate the canary. I picked up my plate and shoved it at him. "You have dish duty." I replied. He his smirk softened into a smile and he said. "No problem, sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes and walked to the couch. Sephiroth helped Cloud clear off the table.

Cloud was about to start on the dishes when Sephiroth said "Since you're a part of this mission now and you missed today's meeting with the scientists at the mako lab why don't you join Tifa and Angeal and get briefed."

"Thanks, man." Cloud said.

He sat next to me on the couch. Well, it was more like on me. The whole right side of his body was pressed up against the left side of my body. For added effect, he also put his arm along the back of the couch. What an idiot. I hope his arm falls asleep.

Angeal looked amused at Cloud's PDA but started briefing us.

He told us the scientists were worried that someone was stealing some of the mako. The amount taken was so little that it would've gone unnoticed except for the fact that the computers registered it. The computers were designed to catch any flux in the amount of mako. No matter how big or small it was.

Mako, even in small amounts is dangerous in the wrong hands.

The scientists wanted us to come back tomorrow and investigate for clues.

"So tomorrow we'll head back and you two can meet the head scientist… something seemed off about him though, so just be ready for anything." Angeal concluded.

Cloud stretched and said "Saving the world, one mako reactor at a time." The other three men in the room chuckled. Oh, I get it. It was an inside joke. Ha. Ha. Very, not-so-funny.

I got off the couch and paced a little. Cloud watched me for a moment before he stopped me, and pulled me back to the couch.

"Relax. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow so you might not want to waste your energy pacing. Why don't we watch a movie?" he asked. In this moment, there was no challenge. He was just a concerned friend that was looking out for me.

I hesitated and then joined him again on the couch. I was careful to keep a cushion in between us.

I picked up the clicker and turned on the TV. I chose the "guide" button on the clicker and looked through what the channels had to offer.

I squealed when I saw that they were showing Aladdin on the Disney channel.

I quickly changed the channel. It was just at the part where Jasmine was sneaking out of her palace to go to the market. I shifted on the couch until I was comfortable.

Cloud, was really, really, distracting. Why did he have to be so good at singing? And why did he have to look at me with those big, blue eyes of his and put me under a spell.

I leaned away from him when he started singing "A Whole New World" in my ear. In my opinion, it was one of the most romantic songs Disney had to offer. Oh God, was he _stroking my arm_? Did he want to kill me?

Maybe I could fight fire with fire. "A whole new world…" I sang back when it was Jasmine's turn to sing. My voice wasn't as good as Cloud's but I wasn't terrible either.

"A dazzling place I never knew." I put my hand on his thigh and I heard him suck in a breath.

"But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear, that now I'm in a whole new world with youuu…" I sang.

We continued to sing together, both teasing each other. Cloud pushed me down onto the couch when he sang "…With new horizons to pursue…"

I wrapped my arms around his neck and lowered my voice so only he could hear me sing the last few lines of the song.

Once the song was over, I pulled away from him a little so that we could stare into each other's eyes.

We were both leaning towards each other for a kiss. All thoughts of missions, and challenges, and avoiding him flew out of my mind. All I could think about was how much I wanted his lips on mine. _Right. Now. _

His eyes seemed to be darkening (with lust?) and the look on his face said he wanted to kiss me too.

"Well I'll be damned! You were right Genesis!" Angeal suddenly burst out. Cloud and I sprang apart, the intimacy between us ruined. Cloud got off of me, blushing slightly.

I looked over the back of the couch to see Genesis and Angeal sitting at the kitchen table. They had a crossword puzzle between them. I groaned. My kiss with Cloud had been interrupted because of a _crossword puzzle_. Fuck. My. Life.

I heard Cloud sigh beside me. I turned back around and continued watching the movie. Neither Cloud nor I looked or talked to each other for the rest of the night. We both understood that the other needed space. Plus it was damn awkward.

I guess the old saying "When you fight fire with fire you're only going to get burned" was true… almost literally. I felt a heat inside of me that I knew only Cloud could cool. But I wasn't going to allow him close anymore. I called it quits and that was the way it was going to stay.

If Cloud thought I was going to give in that easily he was in for a big surprise.

** Ok, crappy ending but hey, the almost kiss was nice… at least I thought it was. **

** Alright for the competition: I've decided that you guys (if you decide to participate) are going to send in your predictions. You can send in a new prediction for each review you send my way. HOWEVER, your most recent one will be the one I consider. Also, the competition ends February 4th. That is a Saturday. I don't know how many chapters I'll have posted by then. Most likely one or two. Also, the winner will get a one-shot (of your choice) written by yours truly. The only rules for this is it has to be about final fantasy and only involving the characters found in this story. Oh, and no lemons. **

** Ok, no anonymous reviews, I've already replied to all of you guys via PM. **

** I went shopping today I got some really cute clothes. And my hair looks fucking beast! It's pretty sexy if I do say so myself ;) **

** Anyway, review and tell me what you thought about the chapter (and your predictions). **

** Until next time….**


	15. Investigations and Cheesecake

**Sooo exhausted… Between track and my studies I am sooo tired. It's Thursday as I'm writing this and I have been struggling through this whole week. :/ Oh well, hopefully writing will relax me a bit. **

CLOUD

I was woken up by the sound of fabric moving and then the shuffling of feet against carpet. "Cloud?" a voice said. It was Tifa. I sat up, and got off the couch. I knew all the others were awake too but ignored them.

"Tifa? Are you ok? What's wrong?" I asked her, worried by the tone of her voice.

"I didn't think you were going to come back!" she sobbed and threw her arms around my neck. Or well, she reached around a little until her arms found the right place.

"Tifa? It's ok. I'm fine. You just had a bad dream or something." I said, and then hesitated. Oh, what the hell might as well say it. "I'll always come back to you."

Her hands wove into my hair. I'd always loved it when she played with my hair. I had to fight to stay coherent.

"You promise you'll stay safe? You're not going to die and leave me alone, are you?" she asked.

I chuckled. "I promise."

"Cloud?" she asked.

"Still here." I said.

"Oh, right. Um… Will you stay close to me tonight?" she asked.

Confused, I said "Ok, Tifa, if you really want me to."

"Of course I want you to! I _always _want you close." She gave a cute giggle and then sighed. "Is it ok if I go to bed now?" she asked as she pulled away.

"Yeah, of course." I said, and looked at her. Now that my eyes were adjusted, I could see that her eyes were closed. Sleepwalking, of _course_. I sighed.

"Night, Cloud. I love you." She whispered.

"Night, Tifa. I love you, too, baby." I whispered back. Suddenly, she went completely limp. I managed to catch her before she fell to the floor. I carried her bridal style over to her bed and laid her down gently. She tried to pull me into bed with her but I resisted. I stepped back and admired her for a moment before a voice spoke up. "Was she… sleepwalking?"

"Yeah." I replied.

"Well isn't that something. I wonder if she meant everything she said." Angeal mused.

"I don't know, but don't mention this to her. She'll be really embarrassed." I advised.

"If you say so, Cloud." Angeal said.

"Thanks." I replied and went back to the couch.

Just as I was about to flop down onto the couch Tifa moaned "Yes, Cloud, touch me there."

I heard restrained giggles erupt from all three men. I felt my own cheeks burst into flame, while Tifa just sighed in content.

I knew I was going to be teased about this for months to come. I sighed and fell onto the couch. All through the night I heard little moans of "Cloud" and "Harder, Cloud, harder." I promptly ignored them and tried to fall back to sleep.

TIFA

"Tifa." A heavenly voice said. I groaned and snuggled deeper into the bed that I had all to myself. The boys had argued about it last night. I had half expected Cloud to sleep with me but he took the couch, while Genesis and Angeal shared a bed. Sephiroth decided to take a chair. I idly wondered if he was crazy but decided not to argue with him.

"Come on, Tifa. It's time to get up." Whoever it was shook me a bit.

"Five more minutes, Mom. I'm having a really good dream." I said. I was half asleep and not really aware of what I was saying.

"Oh? What is it about?" the voice asked. I could hear the smile in their voice. Was I being made fun of?

"Hmm… well there's a boy. We're in a cabin in some woods…" I trailed off remembering.

"What does he look like?" the voice pried.

"You'd approve. He's totally hot, has beautiful blue eyes and spiky blonde hair. A little taller than Dad." I explained.

"Sounds like a great guy." The voice agreed. The voice didn't really sound like my Mom… Who was it? I was too lazy to open my eyes and see.

"Hmm…" I replied, trying to fall back asleep.

I could definitely hear laughter now. It was totally inhibiting me from falling asleep. Annoyed, I opened my eyes a little.

"Ahh!" I screamed and shrunk back against the bed. Four pairs of eyes were peering at me. And they were all laughing.

"Come on, guys." I groaned and beat my head against my pillow.

"No. You come on. We've all been awake since seven and it's now nine-thirty." Genesis said.

"I'm a heavy sleeper." I argued.

"Yeah, we can tell. Especially with all the snoring." Angeal teased.

"I _do not _snore." I protested.

"Sure you don't." Cloud said with a wink. I blushed a little and got out of bed. Just as I hopped out I realized I was only in a tank top and a pair of panties that I had bought from a small mom-and-pop store.

My face flamed beet red. "Turn around. Right now!" I screeched. They all smirked at me – bastards – before they turned around. I grabbed my suit and ran to the bathroom.

I took a quick shower and brushed my teeth. I dried myself with a towel and pulled on my suit. I put my hair up in a messy bun because I couldn't think of anything else to do with it.

I left the bathroom and walked back into the main room. Genesis and Angeal were horsing around. Angeal had Genesis in a headlock and was giving him a noogie. Sephiroth was leaning against the wall with a faint smile as he watched Angeal and Genesis. I looked around the room until my eyes landed on Cloud. He smiled sweetly at me. I felt my heart flutter and heat rise to my face. I looked away from him and walked up to the guys.

"Come on, guys. Break it up." I said, pulling at Angeal's arm. He let go of Genesis and shoved him away.

"Just wait, Angeal. Next time I'll get you." Genesis promised with grin.

Angeal just rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Will return if the morrow is barren of promises. Blah, blah, blah." Then he paused. "Wait, what? You didn't quote Loveless!"

I giggled.

"Someone tolled me I came off as arrogant and annoying so I decided to hold off on all the quotes." Genesis said, winking at me.

"I didn't say you sounded arrogant." I said.

Angeal turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "You finally got him to stop, huh? I'm impressed. Sephiroth and I have been trying to get him to stop for years and then you come along and tell him to and he does. I have more respect for you now."

"As if you already didn't have respect for me?" I teased. "But what impresses me right now is your ability to raise one eyebrow! I'm so jealous! I can't wink either!" I complained.

That got them all raising one eyebrow and winking at me. I groaned and smacked Angeal – who was closest to me – on the arm. "Ass." I said.

He just laughed and walked away shaking his head.

"So what are we doing today?" I asked no one and everyone.

"Besides waiting for you to get ready?" Cloud quipped. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"We're going to visit the mako reactor again today and investigate." Sephiroth said from beside me. I jumped. I hadn't even heard him move or felt his presence beside me.

"When are we leaving?" I asked him, he seemed like the one in charge.

"Right now, if everyone is ready." He replied.

I nodded and turned around. Just in time to catch a backpack Cloud threw at me. I scowled at him and put the backpack on my back.

I followed Genesis and Sephiroth outside the room with Angeal behind me and Cloud coming out last. We all moved as a group down the stairs and outside the hotel.

Sunlight was washing over everything and it warmed the little skin I had exposed. It was still winter though so there was a bite to the air. My ears and fingers were soon freezing, but the rest of my body felt nice and toasty, probably because of my fancy suit.

We walked outside of town and along a dirt path. The dirt path went on for about half a mile before it came to a fork in the road. The road to the left led to a large house with a gate standing in front of it. The whole place looked abandoned.

The road the right lead to what looked like the beginning of a mountain pass.

The group started heading towards the right and I groaned. I hated walking uphill. A little exercise never hurt anyone but climbing up a mountain is potentially life threatening. Plus the higher and farther we walked it got colder and a little harder to breathe because the air was getting thinner.

"How much farther is it?" I huffed.

"Only a little farther!" Angeal called back.

I rolled my eyes. He didn't sound the least bit winded and didn't even look cold. In fact, neither did Sephiroth or Genesis. Cloud was breathing heavily somewhat and his nose and cheeks were pink.

He saw me watching him, and studied my face for a second, then called out "Why don't we stop for a few minutes to let Tifa catch her breath?"

I blushed, embarrassed that I couldn't keep up. Angeal looked back at me and instantly agreed with Cloud. I didn't look that bad, did I?

I sat down on a nearby rock, and even through the fabric of my suit I could feel the chill of it against my butt.

I put my fingers under my armpits. They were trembling a little because they were so cold.

Cloud came over and stood next to me. "Are you ok?" he asked me.

I was starting to shiver a little now. "Y-yeah, I'm fine." I said.

"You look really cold." He said.

Thanks, Captain Obvious. I thought but didn't say anything.

He sighed as he took off his big outer jacket to reveal a smaller tight-fitting jacket underneath. He took it off and then hurriedly put his big jacket on. He hauled me up and put his jacket on me. It was really warm from his body.

Cloud pulled me to him and pressed my face up against his chest, so that it would warm up faster. I slid my hands under his shirt. He jumped a little and hissed but then relaxed.

"You're really cold. Why didn't you say anything?" he asked me, accusingly.

"I didn't feel that cold until we stopped." I replied.

"You can't see it right now, but I'm rolling my eyes." he said.

I giggled and relaxed a little more into Cloud's body. My hands were getting _really _warm now, as was my face. But I didn't want to pull away.

Cloud sighed and said "I miss this."

"What do you mean?" I asked him, confused.

"These quiet moments where it seems like we're the only two in the world. When we can just be _close _to each other with nothing bothering us. No worries, no SOLDIER, no one, nothing." He paused. "But I guess good things never last."

I pulled away and pulled his jacket's hood up over my head so he couldn't see my face. Otherwise, he'd probably see the tears about to fall.

"Let's go." I said thickly.

I turned and headed over to where Angeal, Sephiroth, and Genesis were standing in a group. "Ready to go?" I asked them.

"Yeah. Let's go. We'll be there in about twenty minutes." Angeal said and started walking. Genesis and Sephiroth followed him. I trailed along behind. I could feel Cloud's eyes on me but didn't look back to meet them.

Why did he have to make things so difficult? Everything seemed to be going fine, like we were friends. But then he had to go and bring _that _up! He ruined everything!

I huffed and walked a little faster.

"Stupid Cloud… stupid boys… stupid moments… stupid boys talking about moments…" I was muttering when all of a sudden I ran right into someone.

It was Sephiroth. He steadied me and then looked to where Angeal was talking.

"Ok, we're here. We're going to investigate a little today. See if we can find anything. We'll split up. Tifa you'll be coming with me so I can give you a crash course in detective work. Everyone else is on their own." He explained.

We entered the reactor through a huge gray metal door. Inside, it was very warm. I put my hood down and unzipped the jacket. It was a really dim place. The walls were all a dark brown or gray. There was a few catwalks above us in front of us was a pair of steps that led up to a huge tank with a small window. It had to be the reactor.

"That's the reactor." A voice said beside me. I jumped.

A small man with glasses was standing next to me. He had on a white lab coat and khaki pants. Underneath the lab coat was an overly large sweater with light blue, green and gray diamonds on it. It was really ugly. He had watery brown bug eyes that creeped me out.

Currently his eyes were lingering around my chest area. I cleared my throat and said "Um, yeah I figured that out for myself."

"Huh? Oh, yes." The man said tearing his eyes away from my chest. "I'm Don Rogers. If you have questions I'll be over there." He gestured vaguely to a dark corner and then slunk away in that direction. I watched him go with disgust written all over my face.

"He's creepy, huh?" Angeal asked.

"Hell yeah. Does he just lurk in the corner for a living or something?" I asked.

"Probably." He replied.

I shuddered. "Anyway, come this way. I'm going to teach you some basic skills while looking for clues, ok?" he asked while leading me over to the steps.

"Sure." I replied turning all my attention to Angeal.

"Ok, here's what you need to keep in mind…"

I glanced around the base of the mako reactor was. This was where they thought the thief might have gotten his mako from. There was a small spout that I guess would pour mako out if you turned the handle.

I was examining the handle right now. My eyes slid up and I noticed a piece of fabric hanging off a piece of metal sticking out. The fabric was more like a few strands of cloth. It appeared to be a navy blue or black.

"Angeal?" I called out. "I think I found something."

He came over to me. "What is it?" he asked.

I pointed to the cloth. "That. I think it's cloth. Cotton maybe?" I said.

He shook his head. "Good job, but that's not cloth. That's hair."

"Hair? Are you crazy? That's definitely cloth." I replied.

He pulled the cloth/hair from off the metal and fingered it.

"Definitely hair. Here, you feel." He held it out to me but I backed up.

"No way am I touching that." I said.

"Suit yourself." He replied. He reached in one of his pockets and pulled out a little baggy. He put the hair into it and then sealed it shut and put it back into one of his pockets.

I wrinkled my nose.

"I'm proud of you, Tifa. First time on the job and you find something." He said.

"I feel like I'm a CSI or something." I replied.

"CSI?" he asked.

I face-palmed. "Never mind."

Angeal gave me an odd look and walked away.

We didn't make anymore progress that day, so we headed back to the hotel to discuss our findings.

Thankfully, it was faster down the mountain than it was walking up it. When we reached the small town I asked the guys "Can we eat out somewhere? I'm starving!"

"All this place really has to offer is a small diner…" Angeal said.

"Ok!" I said and started walking towards the building that said DINER.

"Five please." I told the tired looking hostess. Her eyes went wide when she saw the guys walk in behind me.

She straightened up and patted down her hair and then picked out five menus. She led us to one of those circular booths in the corner. We all squeezed in. First was Cloud, then Sephiroth, Angeal, Genesis and then me.

"Can I get ya'll anything to drink?" the hostess asked with a strong Southern accent.

"Sprite." Cloud said.

"Water." Sephiroth said.

"Water." Genesis said, already perusing the menu.

"Coke." Angeal said.

"I'll have a Sprite." I said, offering a smile at her. She made a mean face at me and my jaw dropped. Bitch.

The hostess left to get our drinks and Cloud said to me "Don't worry, Tifa. She's just jealous."

"Yeah, jealous of your hot bod." Angeal added with a wink.

"You guys…" I shook my head and sighed, having no words for them.

The hostess appeared a few moments later with our drinks. When she bent across the table to put Angeal's drink in front of him, she gave him a clear view down her shirt. He chivalrously looked up at the ceiling until she straightened up.

"Micky is the name of the waitress who will be serving you today." The waitress said and then walked away, swaying her hips.

"She was totally letting you get a peek." I said nudging Angeal.

His cheeks colored a little. He rubbed the back of his head and said "I already have a lady…"

I rolled my eyes. "Just say that she's ugly. It's ok Angeal."

"I'm not going to say that. It would be rude." He said, frowning at me. I shrugged and looked at the menu. It was typical bar food. Or "barf food" as Aerith called it. I suddenly missed my best friend. I wanted to call her and hear her voice again. I wanted to go home.

I shook those thoughts out of my head and decided that I'd get a hamburger with French Fries.

"Hi! What can I get you guys today?" a voice said. My head popped up and I instantly smiled.

The waitress – Micky – was one of those bubbly people that made you smile just looking at them.

She had auburn hair put up in a ponytail. Beautiful gray eyes stared inquisitively at all of us. She was about the same height as I was. She had on a white polo and a skirt that went to about her mid-thigh. It looked pretty cute on her.

"I'll get a hamburger with French fries." I said after an awkward moment where no one said anything.

Her eyes rested on me and she grinned. "Any sauce for you?"

"Ketchup, please?" I asked. I felt like we knew each other already. Maybe she was one of those people you just became instant friends with.

"Sure!" Micky chirped.

"I'll get what she's having." Cloud said. He stacked his menu on top of mine.

"I'm going to have a house salad with ranch dressing." Angeal said. Micky nodded and wrote his order down.

"Just an order of fries." Genesis said.

"That's it?" Micky asked skeptically. Genesis just nodded. "Ok then…"

"I'll have the cheeseburger and fries." Sephiroth ordered. Micky nodded. "You're orders will be out in a few minutes." She chirped and practically skipped away to place our orders.

"Wow…" Genesis said watching her go.

I laughed at the awe on his face. "What, Genesis? You've never seen a happy girl before?"

"Yeah… I've just never seen someone as happy as her." He said softly.

I gently punched his shoulder. "Snap out of it. She'll get creeped out."

He blinked a few times and shook his head. He looked down at his hands; I could already tell that he probably wasn't going to talk very much for the rest of the night.

I sighed, rested my elbow on the table and let my chin fall onto my hand. My eyes met with Cloud's. His brow wrinkled as he frowned.

"_What's wrong?"_ his eyes seemed to ask me. I just shook my head. There wasn't really _anything _that was wrong. It was more like _everything_.

Right now, I should've been at the apartment playing with Smokey, or talking to Aerith and Yuffie, or possibly making out with Cloud in my room. I shouldn't be here in some unfamiliar town waiting on a cheeseburger with grown men on a _mission_, of all things. It was absurd. It sounded like something out of a spy novel. But it was now my reality unfortunately. I felt my resolve to bring Shinra down strengthen.

I jumped when I felt a hand gently caress my knee. I jumped a little and my eyes met with Cloud's again. He smiled sweetly and I felt my heart skip a beat. God, he was so beautiful! But it wasn't just his looks. His personality that could be so sweet could turn protective over me in an instant. I knew that he would do whatever it took to keep me safe and out of harm's way. I mean he had come here, hadn't he? To this godforsaken small town that I absolutely already hated.

I realized I was staring and that Cloud was smirking now. I also realized that everyone at the table had also caught me staring. I felt my face flush.

All of a sudden, Angeal let out a small moan. Sephiroth and Genesis howled with laughter while Angeal looked like the cat that ate the canary. Cloud had a blush on his cheeks.

"What?" I asked looking at each of them in turn. "I don't get it." I said.

The moan itself was kind of funny but I could tell there was an inside joke behind it.

"Come on, guys! Tell me!" I whined.

They just shook their heads. I turned my gaze to Cloud. I looked at him with big, wide, pleading eyes. "Will _you _tell me?" I asked him.

I could see him weakening so I went in for the kill. "Please… Cloud?"

He opened his mouth to answer but just then Micky came back with our food. I leaned back against the cushions in defeat. Cloud looked grateful that he didn't have to answer me. I narrowed my eyes at him so he would know that this wasn't over.

Everyone dug into their food. Considering none of us had eaten since the night before this was reasonable.

I was still hungry even after I had finished everything on my plate. I signaled Micky over and ordered a cheesecake with raspberry sauce. Nobody else ordered dessert which made me feel decidedly fat.

After Micky had cleared our table and brought out my cheesecake, but before I had started on it Angeal, Genesis and Sephiroth decided to go back to the hotel and discuss strategy, for what I had no clue. Cloud opted to stay with me. I thought it was a little awkward because I was just sitting there savoring my cheesecake and Cloud was watching me. Awkward.

"Do you remember the morning after we first met?" he asked me after a few moments of silence. I provocatively licked a piece of raspberry sauce off the spoon. When I was done let a small smile curve my lips upward.

"Yeah. You stole my bacon." I said.

Cloud scoffed. "Well you stole _my _bacon."

"Only because you took my bacon first!" I argued.

He chuckled and shook his head. "Let's just agree that we both stole each other's bacon and leave it at that."

I narrowed my eyes, a little suspicious. "Fine… Why did you bring it up anyway?"

"I was just thinking about… when everything was normal between us. When we didn't have any secrets between us and we were just normal people flirting with each other." He said.

I scowled at him. "You know what your problem is?"

"What?" he asked not looking at me. I waited until he brought his head up and his eyes met mine. "You're stuck in the past. The past is gone. There is no use dwelling in it. Let it go. The past is in the past and there's nothing you can do to change it. You might as well stop looking back and start looking ahead. Try to make a better future that's brighter than your past." I stopped, wondering if that sounded stupid.

"That was deep." Cloud said after a few moments.

I shrugged. "I guess."

"Why do you always do that?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Do what?" I asked, bemused.

"You always do something fantastic or amazing and then shrug it off like it's nothing." Cloud explained.

"There's this thing called modesty." I replied quietly. We both knew that wasn't it.

"It seems like every time I've ever tried to compliment you, you act like you don't deserve it. You usually act like this confident, take-charge girl who acts like she can take on the world alone… but sometimes the way you act… it's like you don't expect for people to actually listen to what you have to say…." he trailed off.

I lowered my eyes and drew patterns in the raspberry sauce with my spoon. "I'd rather not talk about it." I said.

"You'll never fix it if you don't confront it." Cloud said.

I stood up and walked up to the counter where the cash register was. Micky looked up from where she was doing what looked like a crossword puzzle. "One of your friends already paid for you guys. You're free to go."

"Ok. Thanks for everything, Micky!" I said giving her a small smile. I turned to leave but she called out. "Wait!" I turned back around and walked a little closer.

"I don't know what's going on between you and the guy with blonde hair, and I _know _it's none of my business, but I can tell that he's very in love with you. I don't know how you feel about him, but I think you love him too. Also, whatever you two were arguing about let him help you with whatever problem you have." She said, then smiled and said. "I hope you have a wonderful evening!"

I didn't really know what to say so I mumbled something along the lines of "You, too." How could a total stranger figure out everything so completely? It was mind boggling.

I exited the diner and found Cloud waiting for me outside.

We walked in silence to the hotel. When we reached the front doors he held the door open for me. I stepped inside the lobby but when I noticed he wasn't following me I turned to face him.

"You're not coming in?" I questioned him.

He shook his head. "I'm going to go for a walk. I need to clear my head."

I got the message loud and clear. He didn't want to be around me for the time being.

"Ok. I'll tell the others. Try not to be out for too long." I said.

A small smile that didn't reach his eyes lifted the corners of his lips. "Thanks, Mom." He replied.

Then he let go of the door and I watched as it slowly closed between us, a physical barrier that went along with the emotional one between us.

I wondered if he would ever forgive me – no, not forgive me… if he would ever take me back and let things go back to normal. I wondered even with Shinra and SOLDIER and missions in our lives if we could ever maintain a semblance of normal.

I sighed and headed over to the stairs. Could this mission get any worse?

Yes, I decided. It could indeed get very, very worse.

Wondering where these thoughts came from I reached the room and entered.

No one was inside.

**Kind of a sucky ending… sorry. Ok, the next chapter is when things are really going to start to go down. I think you guys are going to enjoy it. **

**Review Replies or should I say reply….**

**Spanish Girl: It's ok. Everyone has their different strengths and weaknesses. For instance, I can't draw. Which makes me upset but it's ok because I can write I'm glad you like it and I hope you enjoyed this chapter… even though not much really happened. **

**Speaking of reviews… I know there are a lot of silent readers out there. I know you guys have favorited and alerted this story but it would really help if you would review. It takes a lot of time and effort to write these chapters out. So, I would really, really appreciate it if you would take a few minutes out of your day to drop a review. I don't mean to sound bitchy or stuck up but it gets really frustrating when I only have a handful of people's opinions when I KNOW there are a lot more people out there. **

**Onto a happier note, a really good song that I listened to practically the whole last half of the chapter is Sally's song by Amy Lee. Yes, this is the song from the Nightmare Before Christmas. I recommend that you guys check this song out. It's pretty bad ass and the lyrics kind of go with what's happening in the story right now. **

**Also, a preview for the next chapter. NOTE: These lines may or may not appear in the next chapter they are just some things that I have planned in my head.**

"_I guess we'll just have to wait him or her out."_

"_I'll tell you… why I am the way I am…"_

"_Why didn't you tell me?"_

"_What do you mean **leaving**?" _

**So there you go. Something to look forward to in the next chapter. Just as a warning these updates might be coming a little slower because I have this other story (a Naruto fanfic, if anyone's interested check out my profile) that I am also starting to work on again. So, I'm going to apologize in advance. **

**Also, I think I'm going to end the competition on the eighteenth of this month! So get your predictions in! **

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! **

**Take care!**

**~LilLeif~**


	16. Jenova

** Sorry for the late update guys. I just had one of those weeks. I felt really bad for not updating. So, here you go. **

"I guess we'll just have to chill here until we get a good lead." Angeal was saying. "Don't lower your guard just because nothing is happening though. We need to be alert every moment!"

Genesis chuckled lowly. "With the exception of Tifa, we're all first class SOLDIER. I think we know this all ready. And I know Tifa isn't stupid. She can take care of herself."

"Well thanks, Genesis. You really know how to flatter a girl." I said sarcastically.

Genesis looked confused.

Angeal rolled his eyes. Sephiroth and Cloud didn't say anything.

Cloud had been really quiet these past two weeks, ever since he'd gone on that walk. I would try to involve him in a conversation and he would talk for a few minutes but then he'd kind of just get lost in his thoughts.

"Well, just keep an eye out." Angeal said.

"Yes sir!" I said with a mock salute.

We were resting before we got to the Mako reactor.

"Are we ready to move on?" Sephiroth asked after a few minutes. They all looked towards me.

"Yeah, I think so." I told them.

We all started walking again. I fell into step beside Cloud and I decided to try and start a conversation with him. "Are you ok?"

He glanced over and gave me a weird look. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

I shrugged. "You're so quiet, and you always seem so sad. You don't hit on me like you used to."

He bumped me with his shoulder and said "Do you want me to hit on you?"

"I'm just worried about you. You get lost in your thoughts and you feel a million miles away. You hardly tell me anything anymore." I said, ignoring his question.

"Now you know how _I _feel." He said with a small grin.

"That was low. And see! When you cracked that joke it was so half-hearted, like you didn't even care what you were saying." I said.

He frowned. "Wait… you actually… _care _about me?"

I shoved his shoulder and said with a grin. "Of course I care about you! Just because we're not dating doesn't mean I don't care about you."

"Oh well that's I relief I thought you might've…" he suddenly trailed off… staring at nothing.

"Cloud?" I asked uncertainly.

We reached the reactor then and whatever I wanted to say would have to wait until we got back to the hotel.

I sighed. What was going on?

We went inside and the warmth immediately enveloped me and I sighed.

"Something's wrong." Sephiroth said, looking around. I looked around. There weren't any scientists milling about. The head scientist who usually greeted us everyday was missing.

Suddenly I was jerked to the left by Cloud as a scalpel flew out of nowhere at me.

"Separate!" Angeal ordered and we all ran in different directions.

I ran around the mako reactor and ducked as another scalpel came at me. I punched the guy that threw the scalpel and he flew at least five feet. Cool.

I walked over to the guy. He was wearing a lab coat that only the scientists wore. What was going on?

I slowly creeped through the building. I entered a part where mist was all around and visibility was low. A figure was emerging from the mist. Not taking the chance that it was an enemy I threw myself at them. We tumbled to the ground and I quickly pinned their wrists.

"Cloud?" I asked.

He grinned at me. "Couldn't keep your hands off of me could you?"

I rolled my eyes and got off of him. "We might as well stick together now." I said and started walking away.

Cloud jumped to his feet and followed me.

Suddenly Cloud pushed me up behind a pole.

"What th-" Cloud quickly put his hand over my mouth to muffle the sound.

He put his mouth right next to my ear and whispered. "Shh. There are several scientists up ahead. If we concentrate we can hear what they're saying."

I nodded and Cloud slowly took his hand off of my mouth.

"- grab the girl. We can use her as bait." A voice said.

"Are you crazy? She's Shinra. We'd be dead or incapacitated before we could even touch her!" another voice replied.

"They are taking us down one by one. We need to do _something _so they don't reach-" the first voice said.

"Don't say it! They could be listening." A third voice said.

I looked up at Cloud's face. He had his eyes closed and was concentrating intensely. Sweat dampened the hair around his hairline. His forehead was scrunched a little.

Suddenly his eyes opened. At that very moment, I realized how close we were. He seemed to realize it too. My back was pressed against the pole. His whole body was pressed against mine, pushing me back against the pole.

He lowered his head a little closer to mine. The tension between us was palpable.

"We must go check on her to see if she is safe!" we suddenly heard.

Cloud pulled away from me with a quiet groan. We followed the scientists by the sound of their footsteps.

They went to a part of the reactor we'd never seen before. The mist cleared out and we saw them go through a doorway that had a mysterious glow coming through it.

Cloud and I shared a look and then we both crept towards the door.

When we walked into the room we found a slaughterhouse. I felt like I was about to throw up. The scientists we'd been following had all been practically cut to bits. My eyes traveled along them. Sephiroth was standing there with his sword out and blood was smeared all along the blade.

"Are you crazy?" I screamed at him.

He looked up and our eyes met. I only saw madness inside them.

"Sephiroth… What happened here?" Cloud asked.

"I had to protect Mother." He said, gesturing behind him.

I looked around him and saw a metal woman hanging from tons of wires. I could sense malice coming off of her in waves. I felt my heart pitter-patter in fear.

"_Tifa…_" a voice whispered. It seemed to have come from within the depths of my mind. Was I… going crazy?

"What's going on, Sephiroth?" Angeal said from behind me. I glanced back and saw Genesis and Angeal standing there.

"I've finally found my mother, Angeal." Sephiroth replied.

"That's not your mother, Sephiroth." Angeal replied.

"Actually she is." A guy suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He stepped up beside Sephiroth.

"Sephiroth had some of Jenova's – that being back there - cells implanted inside of him. He was an experiment. And he has been a complete success." The man explained.

"Who are you?" Angeal demanded.

"My name is Professor Hojo." He said simply.

"I'd heard that you got fired a long time ago." Angeal said.

"Yes, well, obviously I'm still in business." He said condescendingly.

"_Someday you will be mine…_" with the voice came a sharp stab of pain. I fell to my knees and held my head in my hands.

"Tifa!" Cloud said and dropped to his knees beside me.

"You heard her, didn't you?" The professor asked me.

"_Answer him, my child…" _the voice said. A sharp pain lanced across my mind.

"Yes, yes…" I sobbed.

"So you're the chosen one." Professor Hojo said.

"Tifa, baby, it's ok." Cloud said gathering me up in his arms, and stood up.

Angeal and Genesis stepped in front of Cloud and me. "What do you mean?"

"To come back, Jenova needs a host body to control. A strong body. One that can handle her essence without breaking down. If that girl there is hearing her voice then that means Jenova has chosen her." The professor explained.

"Why would she choose Tifa?" Genesis asked, bemused.

"Ah, Hollander's failed experiment. You never were quite as successful as Sephiroth here." Hojo said.

"What are you talking about?" Genesis asked.

"Hollander also injected you with Jenova's cells. He considered you a failure. You are already experiencing degradation aren't you? Your reflexes are slower, things seem to be heavier, you have less stamina. Even your hair is losing its pigment isn't it?" Hojo said with a sneer.

Genesis took a step back. He looked unsteady on his feet.

"And you." Hojo said looking at Angeal. "Hollander considered you a success but you could never compare to Sephiroth. Sephiroth is the ultimate success. The ultimate weapon."

"You're wrong! I'm not some science experiment!" Angeal denied.

"You know it's true. You, too, are experiencing degradation aren't you?" Hojo asked him.

"N-no." Angeal said.

"Yes, well even if you deny it, it's still true." Hojo said dismissively.

"Hmm…" Hojo's eyes roamed over our group and his eyes settled on Cloud. "Already a pitiful crew and then you add Spikes and it's altogether a group that anybody would feel sorry for."

"Shut. Up." I ground out.

"Oh? You must not know. Host bodies are meant to be seen and not heard." He said to me. "Now… you look utterly confident, but the way you're holding the girl suggests a history. It also leads me to believe that you two are no longer together." Hojo continued on Cloud.

"I said. Shut. Up." I growled out. I wouldn't stand for this.

I forced Cloud to put me down, and stalked towards Hojo.

"Feisty, I see." Hojo commented.

I was about to throw myself at him and beat the shit out of him when Sephiroth's sword fell in front of me.

"Get your sword out of my way, Sephiroth." I warned.

"Be glad I haven't cut you with it." He said casually. He cocked his head to the side as if listening to someone and then turned around slightly and looked over his shoulder. "Yes, mother." He said.

While he was distracted I ducked under his sword and jumped at Hojo. I managed to get in one good punch that sent him flying at Jenova. Hojo stopped about five feet away from Jenova suddenly, like he'd hit a glass wall or something. He fell to the ground limply.

Pain hammered into my skull then and I fell to the floor holding my head.

_"I can't have you harming him just yet. We need him to bring us together, my child." _

"NOO! I don't want you! Get out of my head!" I screamed.

"_You belong to me now. There's no going back." _

I sobbed as the voice finally left. I heard someone rush over to me and pick me up.

"It's ok. I've got you." A familiar voice said.

"Cloud, we're going after Sephiroth." A voice said.

"No." I said weakly. No one heard me.

"You're going to leave Tifa and me? When are you coming back?" Cloud asked.

"We don't know. But we'll do anything for Sephiroth. Even if it means joining him. He's our friend. We can't sit back and watch him leave." Genesis said.

"Stay here." I rasped out. Still no one heard me.

Cloud sighed. "I understand. Just be careful."

"Please… don't go…" I whispered.

"Bye, Tifa. I wish we could have had more time together. Be careful ok?" I felt a hand on my shoulder and then a light kiss on my cheek. Angeal, he always was fatherly around me.

"_Even if the morrow is barren of promises/ Nothing shall forestall my return. _Act three." Genesis said. "We'll see each other again." he promised.

I managed to nod my head once. Genesis patted my arm and then was gone with Angeal.

Cloud started walking with me. He was walking pretty quickly.

"What's happening?" I asked weakly.

"Sephiroth destroyed the reactor and now the whole place is going to collapse." He explained.

"I think I can wa-"

_"We'll see each other again soon, my child." _The voice came and left with a brief burst of pain. I whimpered. I felt something warm trickle down towards my lip. I slowly brought my hand up and touched it. I brought my hands away and up and looked at my fingers. Bright, red blood stood out against my pale fingers.

My fingers started shaking.

"Tifa?" Cloud asked worriedly.

"I think something's wrong." I whispered and then passed out.

I came to occasionally, but only for a few moments at a time. The first time I woke, I was sitting against a tree and Cloud was fighting off weird looking monsters. My eyes slipped shut again.

The next time I woke it seemed like a long time had passed. Cloud was kneeling in front of me. "We have to walk all the way to the helicopter. It'll take about another week. Then we'll go home." he was saying. I fell back into the darkness.

More time had passed. I was really, really cold. I shivered. I felt warmth behind me and I snuggled in a little deeper. "Are you cold?" he whispered in my ear.

I managed to nod and I heard shuffling and then I felt warm fabric fall over me.

"Is that better?" he asked me.

I nodded again. I wish I had the energy to speak.

A long time had passed, of that I was sure. Memories surfaced. Hojo and Sephiroth. Cloud carrying me places. Sneaking around the reactor. Jenova speaking to me in my mind. Oh God. Jenova… speaking to me.

I shuddered at the memory.

I looked around me. I was lying in a hospital bed. It was a standard issue hospital room. The TV on the wall, the bathroom in the corner, the small "closet." And in the chair next to my bed was Cloud. His head was cushioned on his arms which were on the edge of my bed.

I reached out my hand and gently ran my hand through his spikes.

He jumped awake. "Tifa! You're awake!" he said and enveloped me in a huge hug.

"Thanks for the update, Captain Obvious." I said when he stopped squeezing me to death.

Despite himself he chuckled. "Only you could be that sarcastic at a moment like this."

"I know. How long… has it been since the reactor?" I asked.

"About three weeks or so." He answered.

I sighed. "That long? What's happened?"

"Aerith went off on pretty much everybody. She's extremely pissed at you though. When she first came in and saw you in this bed I think she had a breakdown. She threw herself onto you and kind of just sobbed. The doctors had to sedate her because she was hurting you." Cloud said.

"What about everyone else?" I asked.

"Rufus wants to talk to you." He said.

I wrinkled my nose. "Great."

"And Yuff-" Cloud was cut off by a loud squeal from the doorway. I looked over to see Aerith standing there. She shoved the vase of flowers at Zack who just barely caught them in time.

She ran over to my bed and pulled me into a hug. "I was so worried about you, Tifa! Don't ever do that to me again!"

"I'm sorry, Aerith. I didn't think I'd get hurt." I said.

She rolled her eyes. "Next time, _tell me_, Tifa." She said.

"Ok, Aerith." I promised.

She got off of me then and stood up straight.

"Hey, Tifa." Zack said coming up behind her.

"Hey, Zack." I replied. He nodded and grinned at me.

"Oh! We have a date for the wedding!" Aerith announced happily.

"When is it?" I asked.

"Two weeks from now! And the doctors said once you wake up you only had to stay one more night so they could run a few tests and then you'll be free to go!" Aerith squealed.

I smiled. The doctor suddenly came in. "I thought I heard a commotion." He looked friendly enough, with slightly graying brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses over his dark eyes.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me as he came around the bed to look at the readings that were coming out of the heart monitor.

"Ok. I'm starting to feel a little tired." I said.

The doctor shot a look at my friends and said "That is to be expected. When I leave I think your friends should also. Once they're gone I'm going to have the nurses give you a series of tests and then you can go back to bed."

"Alright." I said.

"Well everything looks good. I'll be back in about ten minutes with a nurse." He said, and then left the room.

"Well, I guess this is good-bye for now." Aerith said. She leaned over and hugged me and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

"Bye." I said.

Zack gave me a hug, and then he and Aerith left.

Cloud was the last one left. He stood up and put a hand on the covers over my leg. "If you want I can stay the night." He told me.

I shook my head. "I think I'll be fine."

He nodded.

"Do you think you can send Vincent over to pick me up? I want to see him." I said. Hurt flashed over Cloud's face, but it was gone so fast I almost didn't see it. Almost.

"Of course." He said. He walked around the bed until he came up to my side. He bent over and hugged me. He laid a gentle kiss against my forehead and then left.

I sadly watched him go. He seemed so far away. He was in a place that I could no longer reach. It seemed everything I did only hurt him further.

I sighed.

A few minutes after Cloud left the doctor came in with a female nurse. The doctor left. The nurse took a vial of my blood, and then took my blood pressure and temperature. Then she gave me a cup and told me to pee in it.

I took the cup and she helped me over to the bathroom. I entered the bathroom and did as she told me.

I gave the cup to the nurse and she gingerly took it. I gave her a smile of sympathy.

She put my pee and my blood on a nearby table and helped me back into my bed.

"Thanks." I said.

"No problem, sweetheart." She replied. She was probably old enough to be my mom. Maybe she had a daughter that I reminded her of.

"Can I go to bed now?" I asked as tiredness washed over.

"Of course. Tomorrow we'll be administering a few more tests and then you'll be free to go." she said.

"Ok." I replied as she left the room.

My tiredness caught up to me and I fell asleep almost instantly, listening to the steady beat of my heart.

I passed all of my tests with flying colors. Vincent arrived during my last test with a bag that I presumed held my clothes.

He helped me to my room and left me by myself to get dressed. I realized I needed help so I pressed the call button.

A nurse came in along with Vincent.

"Um, I just need help getting dressed." I said, feeling my cheeks heat up a little.

"Oh! Of course!" the nurse said. She turned to Vincent and said "Why don't you wait outside. She'll be out in a few minutes."

Vincent nodded once and then left the room, shutting the door behind him.

The nurse helped me get dressed, probably the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to me. The nurse was pretty methodical about it so it wasn't actually that bad.

When we were done the nurse led me out of the room and out into the hallway where Vincent was waiting.

"Ready to go?" he asked me.

I nodded and followed him to an elevator to the ground floor. We didn't say anything as we rode on the elevator. Nor did we say anything when we reached his car.

It wasn't until after five minutes of riding in silence that I said "Do you want to go to Aerith's wedding as my date?"

He looked over at me, uncertainty in his eyes. Finally, he looked back at the road and said "Ok."

I relaxed into my seat, not aware of how tense I had been.

We reached the apartment.

"Bye, Vincent." I said as I got out.

"Bye, Tifa." He replied.

I walked into my apartment building and started up the steps.

"_I can not wait until we meet again, my child." _The familiar voice said. I collapsed on the steps. The only thing I could think was "Why me?"

** Blegh. I don't really like the ending lol. Well anyway I finally typed this up. How long has it been? Two weeks? Something like that. I've just been so busy, and so, so tired. **

** But NO EXCUSES! Because I know you guys don't really care anyway. **

** I think I replied to everyone's reviews but if I didn't feel free to send me a PM (or review) chewing me out. **

** So the winner for the competition is…. NO ONE! Haha jk. I bet you guys got really pissed off just then. XP Anyway the winner is Micky R3mix. Good job! *Showers with cookies and cake* PM and tell me the one-shot you want me to do. **

** Ok. That's all I have to say I guess. The next few chapters are probably going to Aerith's wedding and then me wrapping up the story. It's almost done guys! I'm so sad. **

** Well leave a review and all that jazz. **

** Deuces!**

** ~LilLeif**


	17. Dress FittingBachelorette Party

"Tifa? Are you ok? Tifa, wake up. You're really making me worried here." A familiar voice said.

I groggily lifted my head from the wall it was leaning against and looked around. Aerith was leaning over me with a worried look on her face.

"Do I need to take you back to the hospital?" she asked me.

"No!" I yelled and then toned it down a little. I sounded a little too insistent. "I mean, um, no. I'm fine, really, just a little dizzy."

Aerith gave me a look like she didn't believe me.

"Seriously." I said, moving to stand up. She got out of my way and started walking up the stairs with me to our apartment.

"It's about 10:30 right now. You, Yuffie and I are going to a fitting at noon." Aerith informed me.

"Really? I'm so ex-"

"TIFA!" a black _thing _launched itself at me and I just barely caught it. It turned out to be Yuffie who was currently squeezing the air from my lungs.

"Yu…ffie…" I said breathlessly.

"Yuffie… she's turning purple." Aerith said calmly.

Yuffie looked up at my face and instantly let me go. "Oh! Sorry, Tifa. I didn't mean to hurt you." She said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

"It's ok." I replied, still a little breathless.

Aerith led me to my room. Lying on my bed, curled in a ball was Smokey. I picked him up and cuddled him against me. He immediately started purring loudly and proceeded to lick my chin enthusiastically.

I giggled. "He's missed you. He sleeps on your bed every night, and wouldn't let anyone in your room." Aerith said.

"Yeah, the little bugger scratched me one day when I went to borrow one of your shirts." Yuffie said, pouting as she showed me her forearm where three shallow but long scratches could be seen.

"Good boy." I said, giving Smokey a kiss and then setting him back on my bed.

"What time are we leaving to go to the fitting?" I asked Aerith.

"Probably around 11:15. We want to get there early so someone else doesn't take our appointment." Aerith said.

"Ok." I replied.

I quickly went into the bathroom and hopped into the shower to get that disgusting hospital smell off of me. And honestly, who knew the last time I'd had a shower?

When I was done it was close to eleven so I pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I threw my damp hair into a messy bun and walked into the kitchen.

"Hey, girl. You ready to go?" Yuffie asked me. She was standing by the sink bouncing on the balls of her feet. Where did this girl get all her energy from?

"Yeah. Definitely. Where's Aerith?" I asked her.

"Right here." Aerith said coming in from behind me. I turned around and saw that she had on some dark wash jeans and a pale pink shirt that complemented her beautiful brown hair nicely.

We left the apartment and Aerith drove us to the dress shop. It only took about ten minutes to get there.

The dress shop was a tiny little boutique almost hidden between a hat shop and a coffee place called The Bean. The shop sure didn't look like much and when we went inside it was dimly lit and you could see dust motes dancing in the sunlight that managed to get in through the grimy windows.

"Hello? Mrs. Babineaux? Are you here?" Aerith called out uncertainly.

"Ah! Oui, Madamoiselle!" a voice called out, coming from somewhere in the back. "One moment, s'il vous plait."

"How did you find this place?" I asked Aerith under my breath.

"Zack knows the owner. Apparently, he met her on one of his missions and helped her relocate here." Aerith explained.

"Oh." I replied.

All of a sudden a little women came out from the back. No joke, but she barely hit five feet. She was also really thin. She looked with one gust of wind she'd be gone.

"How can I help you?" she asked. The French accent was thick and made it slightly difficult to understand what she was saying. Luckily, I took four years of French in high school.

"We're here to get fitted." Aerith said politely.

"Would you by any chance be Zack's _fille_?" she asked.

"Oui, Madame. Je m'appelle Aerith." Aerith said.

"Ooh la la! Tu es tres belle. Zack est vraiment heureux." The little woman said.

Aerith blushed lightly and said "Merci, Madame Babineaux."

"S'il vous plait, appelez-moi Aurelie." The woman – Aurelie - said.

"Bien sur." Aerith replied.

"Bon. Alors, come this way. I have just the dress for you." Aurelie said.

I exchanged a look with Yuffie who looked completely confused. "What did they say?" she mouthed.

I just smirked and followed Aerith into the back.

Aurelie was leading us through a maze of dresses. Some of the skirts on the dresses were so wide they took up the whole aisle. She finally stopped in a clearing of sorts where a magnificent dress sat on a mannequin.

It was in a ball gown style. It had a big fluffy white skirt that was really wide. The top was assymetrical. There was a light pink flower sash that I knew Aerith simply adored.

"Oh wow…" Aerith breathed.

Aurelie was looking on proudly. "I take it you like it?" she asked Aerith.

Aerith nodded and I could see her eyes getting glassy. "It's perfect." She said.

Aerith tore her eyes away from the dress and looked at me. "Do you like it?" she choked out around the tears.

I nodded and stepped forward with my arms open. "It's beautiful." I said as she ran into my arms.

I understood. This was all happening so fast. I couldn't believe my best friend was getting married.

After a second she pulled away and wiped under her eyes. "Sorry. It's just so pretty." She explained to Aurelie and Yuffie.

"Do you want to try it on?" Aurelie asked her.

Aerith nodded. Aurelie took the dress off the mannequin with little difficulty and then led Aerith even further into the back of the shop. Yuffie and I could hear some murmurs and a few giggles.

"So are you taking Reno to Aerith's wedding?" I asked Yuffie while we waited.

"Hells to the yeah." Yuffie whooped punching the air. Then "You're taking Cloud right?"

When I didn't reply she said "You _are _taking Cloud… aren't you?"

Still I didn't reply.

"Then… Vincent?" she asked.

My guilty face must've given me away.

"Tifa!" she screeched hitting my arm.

"OW! What was that for?" I asked rubbing my now sore arm.

"For being an idiot that's why. God, are you _stupid_? It's so obvious that he is in love with you. He sang you a song for God's sake! I don't know another guy that's ever done that for anyone I know! Everyone knows that you to belong together. Except. For. You." Yuffie exploded.

I stared at her silently, surprised at how passionately she felt about this.

I was saved from replying by Aerith and Aurelie appearing.

"Everything ok?" Aerith asked, looking between the two of us.

Yuffie sighed. "Everything is just peachy." She said, managing to sound as chipper as always.

I realized that she didn't want Aerith to worry about something as trivial as this, which I was thankful for.

Aerith stepped onto a small raised platform in front of a three way mirror. She smoothed her hands down the front of the dress.

"It's perfect." I said standing on her left. Our eyes met in the mirror and I offered a smile.

"You think so?" Aerith asked me.

I nodded. "Zack won't be able to keep his eyes – or his hands – off of you." I added a wink and Aerith blushed.

"Oh yeah… just wait till your wedding night." Yuffie chirped from the other side of Aerith.

Aerith looked blankly at Yuffie. "What do you mean?"

Yuffie looked completely shocked. Then Aerith looked at me and we started cracking up. "You totally got her!" I said giving Aerith a high five.

"So wait… you know what I was talking about?" Yuffie asked.

"Well, duh. I'm not _that _innocent you know." Aerith said, giving Yuffie a look.

"I always knew you had to have a naughty side to you. No girl can be that innocent." Yuffie said thoughtfully.

Aerith blushed a beet red. "N-no I'm not like that at all."

Yuffie just cackled.

Aerith looked at me for help. I just shook my head and said "I always knew you found my dirty jokes funny."

Aurelie was giggling behind her hand.

Aerith just crossed her arms over her chest. "I guess I'll have to find new bridesmaids."

Yuffie and I were instantly repentant. "We love you, Aerith. We take back what we said!" we groveled at her feet.

She sighed. "I guess it's a little too late to find some new ones."

I hugged her legs. "Thank you so much!" Yuffie pretty much tackled her off the platform.

"Guys, guys, careful. The dress…" Aerith murmured.

"Oh!" Yuffie and I jumped away from her.

Aurelie was giggling at us. "Vous etes tres amusante."

I smiled at her and she winked.

Aerith stepped off the platform with my help. "I guess I should go take this off now." She said. Aurelie shuffled after her and followed her into the dressing room.

"Next we will look at bridesmaids' dresses, yes?" she called out.

"Ok." We heard Aerith reply.

A few minutes later, Aerith reappeared with an elaborate dress bag that contained her dress.

"Do you want matching bridesmaids?" Aurelie asked Aerith.

"It's whatever they want. But do you have a dress that'll match the sash on my dress?" Aerith asked.

Aurelie thought for a moment before she hustled off. She reappeared a few moments later with two beautiful dresses the same exact color as the sash. The dress itself was indescribable. Like, literally. I don't even know how to begin explaining it.

It was strapless, and looked like it might be a bubble dress. It had the same assymetrical bust as Aerith's wedding dress.

It was simple, yet very elegant. I loved it, and apparently so did Yuffie judging from her squeals.

"Oh. MY GOD! I love it! It's beautiful!" Yuffie said, and glomped Aurelie.

She stumbled back a few steps. "I-I'm glad." Aurelie said.

Yuffie pulled away. "Let's go try them on! C'mon, c'mon!" she said running over to the dressing room.

Aurelie and I followed a little more slowly. We all crammed inside, and Yuffie was already have undressed.

I started stripping as well and then slid on the dress. Aurelie zipped up the back for me and it fit perfectly.

Yuffie and I walked out to the mirror and Aerith gasped covering her mouth with her hand.

"I think you guys have to get new dresses. I can't have my bridesmaids looking prettier than me, now can I?" she joked.

Yuffie and I looked amazing in our dresses. Our legs looked miles long because the hem of the dress went to just above our knees. It also made my ass look pretty nice… but then again it usually does so no biggie.

But damn… did it really emphasize my boobs! I'll admit that boons are less than stellar. I'm only a b cup (almost a C!) and I'm eighteen. But they looked really nice in this dress.

"Do you like it?" Aurelie asked us.

"Yes! They're perfect." I gushed.

"It's so flowy!" Yuffie said spinning around.

"Merci beaucoup." Aurelie replied.

Yuffie and I admired our reflections for a little longer before we changed back into our street clothes.

Aurelie bagged our dresses for us and handed them over.

We walked to the front of the store where the cash register was and started getting out money to pay with.

"Oh. No, no, no. Je ne suis pas vouloir votre argent. You don't need to pay me." She said quickly.

"No, I insist." Aerith said, offering the money up.

Aurelie waved her hands in front of her and stepped back.

Aerith looked troubled for a second and then started digging around in her gigantic purse, before she pulled out a white envelope.

"If you won't take our money, please, take this." Aerith said.

Aurelie accepted the envelope and opened it. She pulled out a card that I recognized was one of the wedding invitations.

It took a second for Aurelie to realize what it was. "Merci beaucoup! Je suis honore. Vraiment. Merci, merci, merci."

She pulled Aerith into a hug and then Yuffie and then me.

"Merci, Madame." Aerith called out as we left.

"That was fun." Yuffie said.

"Yeah, I'm even more excited about this wedding." Aerith said.

"Me too. It's going to be beautiful." I added.

"I hope so. I want it to be perfect. After all, you only get married once, right?" she asked with an innocent smile.

I thought about adding something about divorce but didn't want to ruin her good mood so I said "Of course."

I hadn't thought about the mission or this morning in… a while, which surprised me. Maybe by throwing myself into this wedding would be enough to distract me from all that was happening. Maybe all I really needed to do was make this the best day of Aerith's life possible.

I know how selfish this sounds. Doing all this for Aerith for my own reasons and not because I'm just trying to be a good friend. Does that make me a horrible person?

I love Aerith, I do. It's just… I need to do this to help myself right now.

"Hey, Tifa. What are you up to?" Aerith asked sitting down next to me on the couch.

I realized I'd been staring blankly at the TV while idly petting Smokey. I blinked a few times and looked over at Aerith.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking." I replied.

"Oh? About what?" she asked me curiously.

"Just… things." I replied uneasily.

"That's not vague at all." Aerith replied with a smile.

I grinned. "I know. Sorry. I have a lot on my mind."

Aerith cocked her head and studied me. "You're different."

"What do you mean?" I asked her trying not to look guilty or anything.

"Since you've come back from your mission, you're really quiet and you'll stare off into space a lot. You know, crazy behavior." She explained.

"That's me! Crazy Tifa. Local lunatic. I put it on my resumes. Most jobs require it." I joked.

Aerith giggled. "That sounds more like the Tifa I know."

"So are you going to do some more wedding planning?" I asked her.

She looked surprised at the subject change. "Yeah, I was just about to schedule a cake tasting meeting."

"Cool! Is there anything else I can help you with?" I asked her.

"Well actually…"

The next few days I lost myself in scheduling and planning and trying not to think about things other than Aerith's wedding.

My plan actually worked out pretty well. I spent all day running around and then at night I was so exhausted I would practically collapse on my bed at night.

Then the day before Aerith's wedding Yuffie and I were taking Aerith out for her bachelorette party.

First, we took her out to eat and talked about trivial things, such as gay marriage and the upcoming election over dinner.

Then we took her to a strip bar. We used fake IDs to get in, of course.

I told Aerith I was going to use the restroom but really I was paying a guy to go dance on Aerith.

"Hey, sweetheart, what can I do for you?" the guy asked, giving me a wink. He had spiky blonde hair that reminded me painfully of Cloud.

I quickly pushed that thought out of my head and smiled sweetly. I held out a twenty and said "Will you go dance on my friend at table 9 with the long brown hair?"

He smiled. "Sure thing, sweet cheeks." He took the bill out of my hand and I returned to the table.

Aerith was blushing like crazy, and she kept her eyes downcast. All of a sudden there was a loud ruckus and then the stripper I'd paid started coming our way.

He was wearing a speedo and a tie. Nothing else. Let's just say everything about him was big: big muscles, big height, big hands, big… ahem, well, never mind.

He held out his hand to Aerith whose face was getting beet red. She meekly put her hand in his and he pulled her up and then turned around and started grinding on her. She was so embarrassed.

All of a sudden, Zack was there. He looked furious. Uh oh.

The stripper sprung away from Aerith and was holding up his hands and shaking his head. I got up and rushed over.

"Calm down, Zack. I paid him to come dance with Aerith." I explained.

Zack started laughing. "Of _course _it was you."

"So you're not mad?" I asked him.

"Oh no. I just came over here because Aerith looked uncomfortable." He explained.

"But you looked really mad." I said.

"I thought he was forcing her to do something." Zack explained.

"Oh! Well that explains it." I said.

"Is she your girl?" the stripper asked Zack.

"Yeah, we're getting married tomorrow." He said proudly putting an arm around Aerith.

"You're one lucky guy. Congrats to you two." The stripper said.

"Thanks, man." Zack replied. The stripper turned to me. "Since you paid twenty bucks do _you_ want that dance?"

"Actually, I think my friend would enjoy it more." I said, pointing towards Yuffie.

He looked over at her and smirked. She gave a flirty wave. The stripper ambled on over to her.

I turned around to actually go use the restroom this time and ran straight into someone.

My eyes traveled up his chest, to his shoulders, and then his neck. Cloud.

"C-Cloud! Didn't expect to see you here. Funny how both our parties are here, huh?" I said.

"Aren't you girls a little young to be here?" he asked me.

"Aren't you?" I shot back.

He raised an eyebrow, something I was instantly jealous of. I've always wanted to be able to do that.

I walked around him and stalked to the bathroom.

The bathroom was as dimly lit as the club, and I thought I heard moans coming from the back stall. Some_one _was getting lucky.

I quickly used the restroom and washed my hands and then headed back out to the club. When I did I was assaulted.

A bunch of speedo-clad buff guys picked me up and tied something around my head so I couldn't see. Then they carried me off somewhere.

Whatever this was it couldn't be good. I was set down in a chair and then the blindfold was removed.

I found myself on stage with a bunch of half-naked guys surrounding me. Unfortunately, since I was sitting down their junk was right in my face. I kept my eyes carefully trained on their faces.

They started dancing around me. I stood up and started grinding with one of the guys there. I could hear whoops from the crowd and I'm pretty sure I heard Yuffie scream "Get it, girl!" but that might've been my imagination.

All of a sudden all the dancers cleared away and I looked around. Then I felt someone grab my ass. I turned around and saw Cloud there.

He was dressed like the strippers in one of the Speedos. Let's just say it really emphasized his… assets.

I gave him a confused look and he mouthed "Lost a bet."

I laughed. He started stalking me around the stage. It was easy to evade him.

Eventually, he managed to corner me and pushed me onto the chair. I could hear cheers.

Cloud leaned in close. I stood up to minimize the space between us and brought my hands to the hem of my shirt. I pulled it off in one movement and threw it at him. I had on a cami underneath so it was ok.

Cloud's eyes were really wide and he swallowed hard. I smirked and that seemed to pull him out of his daze.

He snaked an arm around my waist and pulled me close. "Tease." He said into my ear.

I spun around in his arms and then started grinding against him, knowing it was driving him crazy.

"Tifa…" I heard him groan over the music.

"Yes, Cloud?" I asked him innocently, looking back at him.

He gritted his teeth and moved his hands down to my hips. He put his hands underneath my cami and his hot hands squeezed my hips.

Well we were already playing dirty…

I spun around again and wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned my whole body against his. I could feel the rather obvious effect I was having on him.

"I win." I whispered into his ear and then ran off the stage. I cackled as he came after me, but I ran out into the crowd.

I grabbed Aerith who was standing near Zack and Yuffie who was making out with Reno and booked it out of there.

I could barely walk I was laughing so hard. I knew I would pay for what I did later.

We hopped in the car and decided to go see a movie.

We just chilled in the movie. It was about some love triangle. One of the guys felt unreciprocated love. Meanwhile, the girl was trying to keep her heart away from the guy who clearly loved her. It seemed scarily similar to my everyday life. Except for the whole unreciprocated love part. No one was pining after me. I mean, I would've noticed? Right?

When we got home I realized that tomorrow Aerith would be getting married. We were no longer little girls anymore. We were grown ups. We could take care of ourselves. And tomorrow Aerith was getting married, one of the biggest milestones in your life.

Aerith seemed to realize this too, because she sat down on the couch. She looked a little shell-shocked.

"Aerith?" I asked her.

"I'm… getting married tomorrow. It's all happened so fast. I… don't know if I'm ready." She said.

I sat down next to her. I put my hands on her shoulders and made her look at me. "You are marrying the most awesome guy in the world tomorrow. Don't sweat it. You two are perfect for each other. I know things will be ok between you two."

She thought for a second and then nodded at me with a small smile. "I can always depend on you to reassure me. I wish I was as strong as you."

"You are. You are, Aerith. You have no idea." I said. I pulled her into a hug and then got off the couch and went into my room.

Tomorrow, my best friend was getting married. I was half excited, and half nervous. What if I tripped? What if I messed something up? What if – No! Tifa you have to be strong for Aerith. I told myself.

Whatever happens tomorrow happens. There's no point in sweating the small stuff. All it does for you is gives you gray hairs.

With that in mind, I quickly fell asleep, trying not to be too nervous.

** Ugh, sorry for the late update again guys. I know, I suck. I'm not as happy with this chapter as I'd like to be because my sister keeps annoying me and because I keep getting distracted. **

** For all you One Directioners out there, basically this whole chapter I've been listening to "What Makes You Beautiful." If you like boy bands I suggest you check it out, for those who haven't heard the song. **

** I was grounded for a week from my phone AND computer so I had to write this in a day, so if it seems rushed that's why. **

** I hope you like this chapter, and if I didn't reply to your review or something feel free to get angry at me. I like talking to you guys and hearing what you think about my story so keep the reviews coming. I really appreciate them. **

** ~Lil Leif **

**P.S. Aurelie is speaking French. I was going to put the translation in but I don't have enough time. D: I'm just going to be one of those horrible authors and make you look it up on google translate. Sorry! :/**


	18. The Wedding

**I just saw The Hunger Games. Oh. My. God. That was probably the most amazing movie I have ever seen. I suggest you ALL go see it. It's definitely not a waste of money. Also, there's some One Direction bashing in here. Personally, I like some of their music but I'm just saying if you don't like it, don't read. **

I woke up to Smokey licking my chin. "Hey buddy." I said as I sat up. He meowed and licked his cute little nose.

"Aww, you're so cute, Smokey!" I said picking him up and hugging him to my chest. He nuzzled into my neck and started to purr. I got off the bed with him and walked out of my room.

It appeared no one else was awake. I looked at the window and saw that the sun hadn't even risen yet.

"Smokey," I groaned, "why did you wake me up so early?"

He trotted over to his food bowl and pawed at it. "Yeah, yeah. You can just chill. Waking me up so early." I scoffed as I headed to the cabinet where his food was held.

Smokey started pacing in front of his food bowl to tell me to hurry up. Damn, this cat was needier than Yuffie.

I soon got Smokey his food and went into Aerith's room. She was sleeping peacefully so I left and went into Yuffie's room.

I gently shook her shoulder. She jumped awake and almost screamed. "Shh, Yuffie. Let's go wake up Aerith." I said with a grin.

A smirk lifted the edges of her mouth and she got out of bed and followed me back to Aerith's room. We both stood just inside her doorway.

"One." We mouthed to each other.

"Two." I could see in Yuffie's eyes that she was really excited. She was getting that crazy gleam in her eyes again.

"THREE!" We yelled and ran and jumped on top of Aerith. Except we only landed on an empty bed. Aerith was standing next to her bed with her hands on her hips.

"DAMN IT, AERITH!" Yuffie said, slamming her fists down onto Aerith's mattress. "You always ruin our fun!" Yuffie crossed her arms over her chest and started to pout.

"How did you know?" I asked her.

"I woke up the first time you came into my room." She explained.

"Damn. You're such a light sleeper, Aerith." I complained. She just smiled sweetly.

"_This. Is. Your. Fault._" Yuffie said quietly from the bed. She looked at me and I literally saw red in her eyes.

"N-no it's not. Y-Yuffie calm down. It's ok. We can scare her awake some other time. Y-Yuffie put the chair down." I said, desperately trying to placate her.

"Yuffie I'll make you chocolate chip pancakes." Aerith offered.

"_YES_. Let's go. Right now." Yuffie said, her earlier fire gone. She raced past me into the kitchen and started to get the pancake making supplies out.

"You have a gift." I said, looking at Aerith appreciatively.

"Well you know, I try." She replied, flipping her awful morning hair over her shoulder.

We chuckled and then joined Yuffie in the kitchen.

**Several **_**looong**_** hours later….**

"Come on Aerith. You got this." I said encouragingly as Aerith struggled to walk in her high heels.

"Tifa, this is really difficult. Can't I just wear flats? I don't want to fall and break my neck on my wedding day!" Aerith complained.

"Suck it up. You're a big girl, now." I replied.

Aerith sighed. "Fiine."

She continued trying to master walking in high heels perfectly. She was getting pretty close too.

When she was confident that she could walk across the room without tripping we started preparing her.

I carefully applied her makeup, knowing just how she liked. Yuffie curled her hair carefully. We both wanted her to look perfect.

An hour later Aerith's hair was done and we carefully slipped her dress onto her.

"You look so beautiful." I said, getting a little teary-eyed.

"Aw, it's ok, Tifa. You look lovely, too." Aerith said coming over to me and gently pulling me into a hug.

"I'm only getting married. We'll still see each other as often as we do now. We'll still be best friends." She reassured me.

"You promise?" I asked her.

"Pinky promise." She said hooking her little finger around mine.

I smiled at the childish act.

"Are you ladies almost ready to go?" Asked someone from the doorway.

We turned around and saw the priest that would be residing over the wedding.

"Yes, Father." Aerith replied.

"Ok, the ceremony starts in thirty minutes." He said, and then turned and left.

Aerith looked at me with panic. "Thirty… minutes." The always calm, always collected Aerith was having a panic attack.

I pulled her into a hug and rubbed her back soothingly. "It's ok, Aerith. It's _Zack_. You know, the love of your life and all that. It's just Zack."

She was taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. "It's just Zack…" I heard her mutter to herself.

"I'll be right beside you the whole time. We'll get through this together." I said, hugging her tightly.

She pulled away and smiled. "Thanks Tifa. I needed that."

I grinned and flashed a thumbs up. "No problem. What are friends for?"

Yuffie bounced over to us and said "Ok, guys. It's time for us to head down now." Yuffie and I each took one of Aerith's arms and we walked down the stairs together to the doors of the church.

We met Vincent and Cloud at the door. When Vincent saw us he stuck his head in the door and nodded. Inside, we heard the music start up. My heart started pounding. Cloud and I lined up in front of Yuffie and Vincent, as we were the maid of honour and the best man.

I turned around to see Aerith smiling up at her dad. He'd actually managed to make it.

Her mom had died our junior year of high school and it had devastated him. He became an alcoholic. Aerith and I managed to convince him to go to rehab, and we weren't sure if he'd be able to come to the wedding. We eventually got a hold of him and he agreed to give Aerith away.

I could tell Aerith was glad to have her dad here.

"Your mom would be so proud of you." I heard him say.

"Oh Dad…" she said, tears welling up.

I turned away, feeling that I was intruding on a private moment.

All of this only took a few moments, and then Cloud was leading me into the church.

I could feel my hands shaking a little, so I clenched the bouquet in my hands a little harder.

"Calm down, Tifa. I'm here." Cloud said, so low that I almost didn't hear him.

Despite everything, I managed to calm down a little and my smile settled down so hopefully no one thought I was possessed looking with my over-large smile.

Cloud and I made it to the alter with no trips or stumbles. Thank God.

Zack was already there and he winked at me and gave Cloud a thumbs up.

Cloud and I moved to either side of the alter and waited for Vincent and Yuffie to make their way towards us.

Vincent gave me a look and I felt my stomach flutter a little.

Then Aerith and her dad were walking down the aisle. I could tell the she only had eyes for Zack and when I looked over I saw that Zack looked stunned by Aerith's beauty. Then his face slowly slipped into the smile that I knew Aerith loved.

Aerith eventually made her way to the end of the aisle and her dad and she faced each other. He gave her a kiss on each cheek and then pulled her in for a hug. Then he placed her hand gently into Zack's open one.

"Take good care of my daughter." I heard Aerith's dad say.

"Yes, sir." Zack said completely serious.

Aerith's dad smiled, a little sadly, and then turned and sat down in the front row. I'm not sure but I think I saw a few tears glistening in his eyes, then he blinked and they were gone.

I wasn't a very religious person so I kind of zoned out sometimes. When I got bored I gazed around. Light pink and white roses were everywhere. Our bouquets were made out of those same flowers. The scent was all around.

I paid attention again as the vows were being exchanged. It was the typical vows that are always exchanged. Until death do we part and all that. I couldn't see Aerith's face but I could see Zack's. He looked the happiest I had ever seen him. He had such a tender look on his face it made me get a little teary-eyed. I blinked quickly so I wouldn't cry and looked desperately around for something else to look at.

My eyes fell on Cloud. He looked extremely serious and had his undivided attention on the couple between us. I think he felt my eyes on him because he looked up and our eyes locked. My stomach felt as if I had a whole colony of butterflies. Vicious, evil butterflies with razor sharp My breath quickened and I felt my heart start to race. I also felt my face start to burn from the blush rising into my cheeks.

Cloud's eyes never wavered from mine and only when the priest asked for the rings did Cloud break eye contact.

I didn't look at Cloud again for the whole service. He had too much of a hold over me. I didn't trust myself on what would happen if our eyes met again. I'd probably jump on him or something crazy like that.

When the service was finally over Aerith and Zack ran down the aisle hand in hand to the car waiting for them outside of the church.

Everyone else followed slowly behind them. Yuffie and I made our way to the car that we had taken to get to the church earlier that morning.

I got in the driver's seat and drove to the reception hall. Yuffie was jamming to Cascada or someone like that on her iPod.

It took us fifteen minutes to get to the reception hall from the church and the whole time I devised plans to avoid Cloud. With everyone they got more and more absurd. By the time I was thinking about staging an international incident I decided that this wasn't very healthy and that maybe I should think of something else. Luckily (or not so luckily depending on how you see it), we reached the reception hall then and I was forced to think about other things as Aerith came running up to me with a worried look on her face.

"Tifa. Oh my God. I am freaking out. The DJ can't show up until eight. Do you think you could sing a few songs for us until the DJ gets here?" she asked, grabbing my shoulders.

I looked away. "I'm not sure…"

"Come on, Tifa! Please?" she begged me.

I felt my mouth curve into a smile. "Of course, I'll do it! I'd never leave a girl hanging like that. How long do you need me to sing for?"

"Only about an hour." She said.

"Ok. Yeah, I can do that." I said.

"Alright I'll lead you backstage and there you can get ready to sing." Aerith said. She turned around and started walking away. I followed behind her. The reception was outside under a humongous gazebo that held a stage, a large dance floor, and tables. The set up was somewhat similar to the church. The pink and white flowers were everywhere again and like in the church they gently perfumed the air.

Aerith led me behind the stage where we found Zack and Cloud talking.

"Oh, Zack. You found someone to sing too?" Aerith asked.

"Yeah, babe. Hey, Tifa. I didn't know you could sing." He said when he saw me.

"Oh yeah. She played the daughter getting married in Mamma Mia when our high school put it on. She was really good too. The show sold out." Aerith said before I could say anything.

"I'm not that good." I said.

"Oh she's just being modest. But I guess you two get to split up the work now." Aerith said.

Zack and Cloud were sharing a look. "What?" I asked.

"It's just that Cloud played the fiancé." Zack explained.

"No way." I said.

Aerith looked from me to Cloud and then started laughing. "You two would have that in common."

I rolled my eyes. "Ok, are there any songs you want us to sing specifically?"

Aerith quickly rattled off a list which I quickly memorized. Hey, maybe all that training in Shinra could be put to good use after all.

Aerith and Zack left, leaving Cloud and I alone.

"You ready?" he asked me. I could feel him looking at me but I avoided his eyes by looking down at my dress and smoothing out a few nonexistent wrinkles. I didn't know why I was so awkward around him now.

"Yeah." I took a deep breath and was about to make my way onto the when Cloud gently grabbed my elbow. His touch sent pleasant tingles all through out my arm. He kept his hand there and I didn't try to pull my elbow away. I looked up and our eyes caught and held. His seemed to burn with a blue fire.

"Are you nervous?" he asked lowly.

I shook my head, unable to speak.

"It'll be ok." He said, and I think I caught an underlying message underneath his simple reassurance.

I just nodded again. He leaned forward and quickly placed a burning kiss on my forehead and then let go of my elbow. He was past me and up the stairs leading to the stage in no time at all it seemed.

I looked after him for a moment and then walked up the stairs.

"Ah, and here's the beautiful lady that will be singing with me tonight. Give her a hand everyone." He was saying as I walked onto the stage.

I felt myself blush a little and waved.

"You probably recognize her as the Maid of Honor. Her name is Tifa and she's rocking that dress." He continued on.

I felt my cheeks redden even more as the crowd chuckled at Cloud's compliment.

There was a second mic on the stage so I went up to it and said "Ok, ok. I believe it's time for the bride and groom's first dance."

Cheering went up around the gazebo and Zack led Aerith to the middle of the dance floor.

Cloud walked to the side of the stage where a grand piano I hadn't seen earlier (don't ask me how I didn't see that monster, I just didn't) and sat down on the bench in front of it. The piano was situated so he could see me over it.

Cloud started playing and I soon joined in.

Zack and Aerith spun around the dance floor. They looked totally in love and I hoped someone took a picture of them, just because it was so perfect.

"'Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling/ and every time we kiss I swear I could fly/ Can't you feel my heart beat fast, / I want this to last, / need you by my side." As I sang this I glanced over at Cloud. He was already looking at me and his eyes were so open and it seemed like I could see straight into his soul.

I almost stumbled over a word but managed to get it out sounding right.

"Your arms are my castle/ Your heart is my sky/ They wipe away tears that I cry/ The good and the bad times/ We've been through them all/ You make me rise when I fall." This song reminded me of my own relationship with Cloud. Why did Aerith have to choose a song that I could relate to? Probably because she could relate to it too.

Zack and Aerith finished dancing and Zack did an exaggerated bow. Aerith did a little curtsey and then they both held their hands out to Cloud and me. Polite applause sounded throughout the crowd.

"Thank you." Aerith mouthed.

I just nodded and smiled. Cloud spoke into the microphone that was situated near his mouth. "Tifa did such a wonderful job. She deserves another round of applause."

Everyone clapped again and I felt myself blushing.

"Alright the next song we're going to do is more of a dancing song so everyone can dance along. And if you know the lyrics feel free to sing along with us." Cloud said.

He ran backstage and quickly asked the guy manning the microphones and all that to play a song. Then he ran back up to the front of the stage.

We waited a few moments and then a familiar beginning came on. "_Don't go wasting your emoootion. Lay all your love on me._"

I looked over at Cloud and sent me a sly grin. I rolled my eyes.

"_I wasn't jealous before we met, now every man that I see is a potential threat._" Cloud sang to me, stalking closer.

I heard a few cheers and even heard some people joining in.

"_And I'm possessive it isn't nice. You've heard me saying that smoking was my only vice._" Cloud got closer and closer until we were standing only a few inches apart and he was staring deep into my eyes.

"_But now it isn't truuue…. Now everything is neeew… And all I've learned has overturned. I beg of you!_"

I backed away from him, teasingly swaying my hips. I also kept an eye on where I was on the stage. I didn't want to fall off and make a fool of myself.

"_Don't go wasting your emooootion. Lay all your love on meeeee!_" I sang.

I backed up to the piano and leaned back against it, trying to be sexy as I evaded Cloud, who had started stalking towards me.

"_It was like shooting a sitting duck. A little small talk, a smile, and baby, I was stuck._" I got as close to Cloud as I could, pressing as much of our bodies together. I put our faces together and looked deep into his eyes.

My pulse was hammering, but Cloud looked as cool as ever.

"_I still don't know what you've done with me. A grown up woman should never fall so easily. I feel a kind of feeear._" Here, I flipped us around so now he was against the piano and I walked backwards away from him.

"_When I don't have you near. Unsatisfied, I skip my pride. I beg you deeear…_"

"_Don't go wasting your emotion; lay all your love on me. Don't go sharing your devooootion, lay all your love on meeeee."_

Cloud started to sing again, he came for me once again, however once he got to me he gently lowered me to the ground and put himself on top of me. I desperately tried to keep the blush off my face.

_ "I've had a few little love affairs. They didn't last very long and they've been pretty scarce." _

Cloud gently brushed my cheek with his thumb as he sang the next part. "_I used to think that was sensible. It makes the truth even more incomprehensible." _

We sang the next part together. "_'Cause everything is neeew and everything is youuu. And all I've earned has overturned. What can I dooooo?" _My emotions were so jumbled around. Cloud and I weren't together anymore yet I could still feel that old spark - or whatever you want to call it – between us. I was confused by my reactions to him. My head said no yet my emotions and heart screamed yes, yes, yes!

It ended shortly after that and Cloud jumped off of me and then reached down to help me off the ground.

People applauded loudly. Cloud and I bowed together. Cloud pulled the microphone away from his mouth. "What song do you want to sing next?" He sounded just as breathless as I was.

"Do you want to sing an individual song while I go get us something to drink?" I asked him.

"Sure, just get me a bottle of water. Do you have any suggestions for a song?" I asked him.

"Sing 'Fall for You' by Secondhand Serenade. I'm sure people want another slow song." I said.

Cloud thought about it. "Ok."

Cloud brought the microphone back up to his mouth. "Alright, while Tifa goes to get something to drink, here's a slow song for all you couples out there."

I told the guy to play the song for Cloud. A few seconds later I heard Cloud's beautiful voice coming out of the speakers.

I went down to the bar and asked for two water bottles.

"May I have this dance?" a voice asked me.

"I'm sorry. I'm a little busy at the moment. Maybe in an hour though." I said, not even turning around.

"Not even for me?" the voice joked.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Vincent standing there. He looked great in his tux.

"S-sure." I said. I turned to the bartender. "Do you think you could hold these for me until the song is done?"

"Sure thing, hot stuff." The guy said.

I took Vincent's offered hand and he led me to the dance floor. I wrapped my arms around his neck which was a little difficult considering how much taller he was than me. He stooped a little and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"You look beautiful tonight." He whispered into my ear. I felt his breath sweep across my shoulder and neck and tried to hold back a shiver.

"You look good, too." I replied.

"I'm glad you asked me to come." He said after a few seconds of silence.

"I'm glad you agreed." I said back.

I heard him chuckle. "You really are something, Tifa. Cloud's lucky to have you."

I pulled away slightly so I could see his face. "Cloud and I aren't together anymore. Neither of us can handle it apparently." I explained.

"But the way you two acted on the stage, it seemed like you two were together." Vincent said.

"We're not." I said, a little too quickly. My mind flashed to when Cloud had been on top of me on the stage. The way his body had felt on top of mine and how his touch still sent tingles through me.

Vincent and I swayed together in awkward silence. I glanced around us. My eyes – of their own accord – fell on the stage. Cloud was staring right at me. My breath caught in my throat a little. The look in his eyes was filled with pain and hurt. But the most overwhelming feeling was love. Even after all of this he still loved me. I didn't deserve a guy like him.

_"Tonight will be the night that I will fall for you over again. Don't make me change my mind or I won't live to see another day, I swear it's true! Because a girl like you is impossible to find…._ You're impossible to find." Cloud finished up the song, and I could feel his eyes boring into me.

"Well I guess that's my cue to go. See ya later, Vincent. Save me a few more dances, will you?" I asked him.

"Oh, I _will_." He said with a wink.

I grinned at him and then walked away to grab the two waters. I walked back to the stage and handed Cloud his water.

"Thanks." He said, although none of his usual warmth was there. I sighed and accepted his microphone and went onto the stage.

I decided to sing Bad Romance. I could see Aerith roll her eyes from where I was standing on the stage. A few days before her wedding I had teased her on how cliché her relationship was with Zack. So singing Bad Romance referred to that conversation.

When I was done singing Cloud dragged Zack onto the stage. Cloud had a mischievous look in his eyes.

"Here's the groom of the night. Let's all give him and his bride a round of applause." Cloud said. He had his arm slung around Zack's shoulders, probably to keep him there more than anything.

"Zack and I have a song we'd like to sing for the ladies in our lives. I'm sure you heard of the band One Direction. Yes, yes, I understand they're all gay for each other but they do have some things right. Like their song 'One Thing.'" Cloud said. The beginning of the song started up just then.

_"I've tried playing it cool, but when I'm looking at you. I can't ever be brave 'cuz you make my heart race." _Cloud sang.

I joined Aerith on the dance floor. "Hey, cutie." I said to her.

"Tifa!" she shrieked, hugging me. "You guys are great. The DJ said he'd be here soon, so you guys probably only need to sing one or two more songs and then you'll be done." She said.

"Ok. Cool." I said.

"Oh my God! Zack's singing now!" she said, and all her attention turned to the stage.

"_Shot me out of the sky. You're my kryptonite. You keep making me weak. Yeah, frozen and can't breathe." _He winked at Aerith and I swear she actually _swooned_. I laughed at her antics as Cloud and Zack started singing together.

"Something's gotta give now, 'cuz I'm dying just to make you see that I need you here with me now 'cuz you've got that. One. Thing. So! Get up, get out of my head, and fall into my arms instead. I don't, I don't know what it is but I need that one thing. And you've got that. One thing."

Cloud and Zack were both really good performers and they both acted together on some things. One would do something funny and then the other would go along with it.

Cloud and Zack finished singing their song, and when Zack made it over to us Aerith jumped into his arms and gave him a huge kiss. I backed away and headed back to the stage.

When I got up there Cloud said "Are you gonna give _me _a kiss?"

I laughed. "In your dreams…"

Cloud just laughed.

I told him what Aerith had told me about the DJ.

"I know the perfect song." He said and went over to the guy to tell him what song to play.

My eyes widened when I heard the beginning. I loved NeverShoutNever!

I guess Cloud and I had a mutual agreement to just sing this last song together even though it wasn't exactly a duet.

"_Baby, I love you, I never want to let you go. The more I think about the more I want to let you know that every thing you do is super duper cute and I can't stand it." _

Zack and Aerith were doing a little dance on the dance floor and it was absolutely adorable.

When I looked over at Cloud he was holding his hand out as if asking to dance with me. I shook my head.

_Please? _He mouthed.

I shook my head again.

He got down on his hand and knees and clasped his hands together. "She won't dance with me." he explained to the people giving him weird looks.

"Come on, Tifa!" I heard Aerith shout. I glanced over at her and she made a gesture with her head that told me to move it.

"Fine…" I sighed into the microphone. Cloud let out a whoop and swept me up in his arms.

Somehow he got rid of his microphone. He took one of my hands in his and wrapped an arm around my waist. My other hand held the microphone between us so we could sing and dance at the same time.

Throughout the song, I could feel Cloud's hand on my lower back flex and then relax. At the end he lowered me in a dip and looked at me with pleading eyes. I knew he wanted to kiss me.

I shook my head. He buried his face in my neck and placed a gentle kiss there. He straightened us up and I walked away quickly before he could catch up.

"I hope you guys enjoyed the music. Don't forget to give the bride and groom your congratulations. Thanks for having us guys and having a great time." Cloud said before exiting the stage.

The DJ set up and a few minutes later he was playing some fast paced song.

I grabbed a drink from the bar, having lost my water a while ago.

Yuffie appeared by my side while I was waiting for my drink.

"Reno is _such _a good kisser. Honestly, if we weren't in public…" She trailed off and gave me a wink.

"Niice. Did you see any of my performance?" I asked her.

"Yes! That dance at the end was hot. He looked like he was about to kiss you. Remind me again why you two aren't together anymore." She said.

I opened my mouth to explain why, when I realized I didn't have any _good _excuses.

"We just aren't good together, Yuff." I said.

Yuffie rolled her eyes. "It sounds like you're just making excuses. I don't know how you manage not to drag him off somewhere. He is one fine piece of man meat."

I glanced over the crowd to find a head of blonde spiky hair.

"Who is?" a voice said from behind me.

I jumped. It was just the person I'd been looking for.

"You." Yuffie said simply, shrugging.

"Yuff!" I exclaimed.

"What? Might as well tell him the truth." She said, shrugging again.

"Reno said he was looking for you, Yuffie." Cloud said suddenly.

"He is? Where did you see him last?" Without even waiting for Cloud to reply she left.

I turned around in my chair so I could look at Cloud. Yuffie was right. I'd been trying to avoid looking at Cloud all day but he did look really good.

The black tux looked absolutely _amazing_ on him. His blonde hair was in its usual spikes but for some reason they looked extra soft and shiny tonight. Even his blue eyes looked brighter. He looked absolutely irresistible.

Before I could think too much about it, I downed the rest of my drink and then grabbed his hand and pulled him after me. Cloud didn't resist.

I led him away from the gazebo and into the woods nearby. I walked about thirty feet into the tree line and then turned around and pushed him up against the nearest tree.

"Tifa?" he asked me, his eyes wide.

"Shh. No talking now." I whispered into his ear and then gently bit it. I then kissed my way down his jaw to his neck.

I heard his breathing become more labored.

"What… brought all this on?" he asked me. I could hear the smile in his voice.

I pulled away from his neck (where I was trying to leave a hickey) for a moment. "I took the time to look at you."

I went back to his neck, but then Cloud lifted my chin with two of his fingers and brought his mouth down to mine.

We kissed. For seconds? Minutes? Hours? I don't even know. But when we both finally pulled away we were breathless. "I've missed you." He whispered, our breaths mingling.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and played with his hair a bit before I answered.

"I've been stupid."

"We've both been stupid." He replied.

I shook my head. "No, _I've_ been stupid." How could I have ever thought that I could be without _this?_ How could I have ever thought I would survive without Cloud's arms around me?

"Maybe a little…" Cloud said and then chuckled. He kissed my cheek sweetly. "At first I thought you were taking me into the forest to kill me, but I like this idea even better."

"I _could _still kill you." I said, pretending to consider it.

"If that's what helps you sleep at night…" he said teasingly.

Cloud's hands which had been around my waist slid up to my shoulders and started caressing them. It felt really good, and it was also the closest I'd come to a massage in a while.

I laid my head against Cloud's chest and listen to his heart beat. I idly played with his hair as he rubbed my shoulders.

"I think this is the most un-stressful moment I've had in a while." I said after a little while.

"Hmm, I have to agree. Making out in the woods is a great way to relieve stress now that I think about it." He joked.

I laughed quietly. Suddenly, Cloud turned us around so that I was against the tree.

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Tifa." He said, staring down at me completely serious.

"You say that like you're about to lose me." I replied.

"Am I?" he asked.

"I hope not. I still have so many things I'd like to do. Get away from you for instance." I joked.

Cloud rolled his eyes and pressed against me. I could feel the bark against my bare shoulders.

Cloud dropped his head onto my shoulder and breathed in. I let my hands fall down his sides and then I slipped them under his jacket and rubbed his back. He sighed and I tried not to shiver.

"Are you cold?" he asked me, already shrugging out of his jacket.

I shook my head, but accepted his jacket anyway. I slipped it on. The sleeves fell past my hands and I impatiently shoved them up.

I reached up to Cloud's tie and slowly loosened it. I pulled it off and dropped it to the ground. Then I reached up to his collar and unbuttoned the first button.

Cloud was watching me with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Is this ok?" I asked him, avoiding his eyes and working on the next button.

He hesitantly nodded and I continued my work. I untucked his shirt and unbuttoned the last two buttons and then shoved it off his shoulders.

I gently trailed my hands down his chest, tracing the lines created by the muscles.

"Cold?" I asked him, noticing the goosebumps racing across his skin.

"A little." He said.

"Maybe I can help warm you up." I said pulling him against me and tilting my head up towards his. He lowered his head the rest of the way and our mouths met once again.

This time when we kissed it was more passionate. I could feel his love for me in his kiss. I wanted all of him then. I brought my hands to the front and reached for his belt buckle-

"Tifa? Tifa?" Cloud asked.

Suddenly, I found a hand waving in front of my face. I glanced around and realized that I wasn't in the forest anymore.

Cloud was sitting beside me on the bar stool waving a hand in front of my face.

"What happened?" I asked him.

"You zoned out for like five minutes. It was kind of creepy. You just started staring at me. I was about ready to throw water on you or something." He said.

I had… zoned out? I felt disappointed that none of it had actually happened. I was about to reach out and grab his hand when the DJ came on over the microphone and said "The bride and groom request that everyone go to their tables and prepare to have dinner."

I almost groaned out loud. "Shall we?" Cloud asked, jumping off his stool. He offered me his hand to help me off my own stool. I looked at it and then took it. I wanted more than anything to run into the woods with him but I knew Aerith would kill me if I did.

Cloud held my hand for a second longer than he needed to and squeezed it before he let go. I missed his hand holding mine but I followed him to the biggest circular table in the middle of all of the other tables.

Our seating arrangements were, clockwise, Zack, Aerith, me, Yuffie, Vincent, and then Cloud. Cloud and I were sitting directly opposite. Was God trying to punish me for something? Sitting through this whole dinner across from the guy I loved was going to be impossible.

I couldn't stop fidgeting and more than once Aerith shot me a look that told me to quit it.

Finally, the dinner was almost over and it was time for the maid of honor and best man to give their speeches.

I guess the old adage "Ladies first" applied here too because Aerith made a motion to stand up.

I did my best to face everybody before I started speaking. "Aerith and I have known each other since first grade. Ever since my mom forgot to pack my lunch on the first day and Aerith shared half of her PB&J sandwich. Even then I knew Aerith deserved someone special. She was just one of those people, you know?"

"The first time I met Zack, he cooked me breakfast after a terrible hangover. I immediately knew he would be a great guy. At the time, I didn't know he was the one Aerith was dating. I have to say you two are almost perfect. Sometimes I think I might be sick when you guys baby talk each other, but hey, everybody's got their quirks. Yours are just disgustingly cute."

"But I have to admit, I'm glad you two found each other. I couldn't have found anyone better for Aerith, and I know you'll take good care of my best friend. But if you don't I'll have to kick your ass." I got a few chuckles there.

"Aerith, I've always been the one to jump in and do things, while you thought about your decisions and choices carefully and thoroughly. But you beat me to this. I guess you'll have to report back and tell me how things go so I know whether or not to join the club with you."

"Aerith, you've always been my best friend and you always will be. Even if you are married I know you'll still find time to be my best friend." With that I sat down. Everyone applauded. Aerith had started crying sometime during my speech and she pulled me into a teary hug. Zack got up from his chair and gave me a hug too. "I swear I'll take care of her." He promised.

I nodded and then he pulled away and sat back down.

Cloud stood up and gave everybody a grin. "That's a hard speech to follow up." Everyone laughed.

"Zack was my boss when I first joined SOLDIER. I wanted to be just like him. He was my role model. I think he was the first guy to treat me with respect and when I came to talk to him about my troubles he took me under his wing. I came to love him like he was my own brother and I finally felt like I had family."

"Four years later, Zack is getting married, something I always knew he would accomplish first. I mean, look at him. He's gorgeous." Zack pretended to flip his hair and the audience chuckled.

"The first time I met Aerith I thought she was an angel. Somehow I stumbled into the abandoned church she always hangs around. I must've been drunk or something, but she helped me get back on my feet. It wasn't until the next day when Zack introduced the two of us that I realized who she was. I think I'll be forever grateful to Aerith for not kicking me out of her church and helping me feel better."

Cloud started talking about some silly times he'd shared with Zack and Aerith but I zoned out and just watched Cloud. I watched the way his mouth moved when he talked and the way his lips curved up slightly in the corners when he was about to tell a joke. The way his eyes flashed when he laughed. I wished yet again that I could get him alone and… well have my way with him.

I didn't know where this desperation/neediness was coming from but it was driving me crazy.

Cloud would catch me staring at him sometimes and we would lock eyes for a few moments but then something in his eyes would make me blush and I'd break our eye contact.

Finally, Cloud was done with his speech after what seemed like forever, but was probably only a few minutes. A few other people decided they wanted to speak too but I passed the time from people watching and Cloud watching. Cloud looked just as bored as I did. In fact, by the last person everyone looked like they wanted to dance again.

Finally (_finally_), the last person was done speaking and the DJ started playing his music again.

I got up and was about to run to Cloud when a hand on my elbow stopped me. "Dance with me?" I turned and saw Vincent standing there. I instantly felt bad. Here, was my date, a great guy, and I had completely ignored him the whole night. I sent one last look towards Cloud who looked preoccupied with Zack anyways and then turned back to Vincent. "Sure." I said.

He led me to the dance floor and was started dancing together. It was a bit fast – paced but we managed to keep up.

Vincent and I danced together for two or three songs, but by the third one, my legs were starting to feel the effect of all that dancing.

"Let's take a break. My legs are killing me." I said.

Vincent nodded. "Ok."

We headed off the dance floor and took a seat at our table. I drank a sip of water from my glass, the cool liquid going a long way to help cool me down.

One song later a slow song came on and suddenly Cloud was there. He nodded at Vincent and then held his hand out to me. "May I have this dance?"

"Yes." I breathed and put my hand in his.

He led me to the middle of the dance floor and pulled me close. I wrapped my arms around his neck and laid my head on his shoulder.

We danced quietly for a while before Cloud said "I wish it could always be like this. We get to be so good and then something happens and we're both pissed off at each other."

"I know… we're almost _too_ good together." I said.

"We are pretty kick ass." He said with a low chuckle.

"I guess we're too similar or something." I said, trying to figure it out.

"Or maybe we're too different." Cloud said softly.

We both sighed. "Can we just go back to being friends?" I asked him.

"Of course. You're probably one of my closest friends now." He said.

"I'm glad. I like being friends with you." I said, shifting closer to him as we swayed to the music.

"I really like calling you mine, though. Even if we take it slow this time around do you think we could ever be together again?" he asked. Something in his voice made me lift my head off his shoulder and look at him.

He had an almost pleading look in his eyes.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." I said, not wanting to promise anything I wasn't sure about.

The desperation from earlier was still rushing about inside me, but my higher reasoning forced me to shove it aside and think responsibly. If I made out with Cloud right now just to do it, how would that make him feel? And if not Cloud, then what about Vincent?

I sighed heavily. "What?" Cloud asked me.

I just shook my head.

"No. Come on. Tell me. We're friends now, remember?" he said, urging me to look into his eyes.

I decided to be brutally honest. "Earlier, I really wanted to drag you out of here and kiss you senseless, but now that I'm actually thinking about it I realize what a horrible idea it is. It wouldn't be fair to you or me or even Vincent at all."

Cloud stiffened in my arms and I ran my fingers through his hair at the nape of his neck to relax him a bit.

"Oh." Was all he said.

"Yeah." I replied, my cheeks flaring with heat now that it was out.

"Let's go. I don't care if it's not fair to me. We can just be friends with benefits for a while if that's what you want." He said, removing his hands from my waist and grabbing one of mine from behind his neck. He started pulling me towards the woods.

"No, Cloud. It's not a good idea. What about Vincent?" I asked him.

"Vincent knows how we feel about each other. He doesn't mind. Trust me." Something in me told me that Vincent cared a little more than Cloud thought, but I pushed that thought out of my head.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked him.

Cloud stopped near the tree line and looked me dead in the eye. "Tifa, this is one of the most sure things I've ever decided on. Getting to kiss you and hold you in my arms again? Yeah, I wouldn't pass that up for anything." And with that he began pulling me into the woods again.

When Cloud was satisfied with how far we'd gone he stopped and turned around. "It's been a while hasn't it?" he asked, stepping closer.

I nodded and took a step back towards a tree. My back hit it and I leaned against it. My heart was already racing in anticipation. Cloud looked as excited for this as I did.

He took one step closer and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me away from the tree and against his lean body.

He lowered his mouth to mine. Our lips barely brushed when a familiar voice said "I thought I'd found you two out here together."

Cloud and I sprung apart. I peered into the darkness looking for the owner of the voice. "Who are you?" I called out.

"You should remember. We did spend quite a while together in Nibelheim." The voice said. Someone stepped into a patch of moonlight that was filtered through the trees.

"A-Angeal?"

**#$*(*^%*! Angeal is back! That must mean Genesis and Sephiroth are nearby… or are they? MWHAHAHAHA! ONLY I KNOW! I hope you guys liked the chapter. It took me forever to type it. 14 1/3 pages. Pretty damn nice, huh? Sorry for the horrendous update wait. I have been SO busy. School, track, my parents all that good stuff. **

** Good news with track. If any of you guys care I ran a 1:15 in the 400 m (one lap of the track) dash. That's pretty good if I do say so myself. **

** More shit is about to go down in the upcoming chapters and this story probably has maybe two or three more chapters. Shit. Will. Go. Down. But not to fret! I am already planning the SEQUEL to this. Isn't that music to your ears? However, once I finish this story I am going to complete my other unfinished stories and plan the sequel so it will be easier for me to write. **

** So anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed your time away from me. I know I didn't. I missed you guys so much! *cries* **

** So anyway review please, because those babies really motivate me to write. I really love your guys' comments. They crack me up. **

** Well, farewell! Have a great day!**

** ~Lil Leif **


	19. What Happens Next

** Um… hey, guys. *Laughs nervously* I didn't die. I know I promised that this summer I was going to work really hard to finish this story. Well, my dad didn't bring his computer so I had nothing to type on/publish my works. But I did manage to get these last two chapters all written out for you guys. You're probably going to hate my guts after you read them but…. on to the story I guess! **

"Angeal, what are you doing here?" I asked him.

"I came here to warn you. Sephiroth is planning something big. I don't know what it is or when it's going to happen but it _will _happen. And soon." He said. I could see the worry in his eyes. He also looked like he'd aged 10 years in the few weeks I hadn't seen him. His hair was almost all white, with only a few black streaks going through it. His skin looked ashen and his skin was starting to wrinkle just a little bit.

Angeal tensed to leave but paused when Cloud asked "Wait, where's Genesis?"

Angeal sighed. "Genesis… is losing sight of what he once stood for. The degradation is really getting to him."

Cloud nodded his understanding grimly.

"Zack and Aerith jus got married." I said after a few moments of silence. A smile crossed Angeal's face and I could tell this really made him happy to hear.

"I wish I could've seen it." Angeal mused. "I'm happy for them."

I was about to ask him how he was doing when he suddenly said "I have to go now. Otherwise Sephiroth will start suspecting me of betrayal."

Cloud pulled Angeal into a hug. After they parted I also hugged Angeal. He felt so frail in my arms. It was hard to believe that he'd gone from one of the strongest men I knew to this frail little bird.

"Good-bye, Cloud. Tifa." He nodded at us and then dissolved back into the shadows.

"We need to tell Zack right away." I said, looking over at Cloud.

He blew out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Agreed, it's going to really ruin their wedding though."

Poor Aerith and Zack.

"Let's go." I said. We made our way out of the woods and back to the gazebo where Zack and Aerith were thanking everyone for coming. They were practically glowing with happiness. I also noticed that Zack and Aerith never let each other go. Zack would always have his arm around Aerith's waist or they would be holding hands. It was so adorable.

Then Zack looked up and saw us standing there and Cloud motioned for Zack to come over.

"Zack, Angeal just came to us in the woods and told us that Sephiroth was planning something big." Cloud explained quickly.

"Is he still there?" Zack asked us, looking past us and in the direction of the woods.

"No, but he came here to warn us. Something big is going to happen soon and we need to be ready" Cloud replied.

Zack's face fell but he nodded. "The reception is over now. Let's get out of here." He said.

Then, Zack left us and went back to Aerith and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He whispered something in her ear. She nodded after a moment and then broke away from him and came over to me.

"I'm going with Zack. I'll see you later." She said with a huge smile on her face. I couldn't repress my smirk.

"Have _fun _on your wedding night." I said with a wink.

She blushed bright red but retorted with "Oh, don't worry. I _will_."

I pulled her into a hug "I'm so happy for you." I whispered in her ear.

"Me too." She whispered back.

After a few more moments she pulled away. "I guess I better go, wouldn't want my new husband to have to wait too long."

I grinned at her. "I'll be sure to let him know what he's in for. Good-bye, Aerith." For some reason this whole conversation with Aerith felt so… _final_. Like this is the last time I'd see her. I mentally scolded myself. This _wasn't _the last time I would see my friend. It was just marriage after all. It wasn't like she was about to die.

"Bye, Tifa." She said with a smile of her own, shaking me out of my thoughts.

She skipped off to her husband, who took her hands in his and pulled her to his car.

I walked to my car as well and saw Cloud standing there sheepishly. "Can I get a ride to Vincent's house? I'm sleeping over there tonight."

"Sure. No problem." I replied. He got in the passenger's seat while I got behind the wheel. I checked my phone and found one new message from Yuffie:

_ Hey babes! I'm sleeping over at Reno's house tonight. ;) _

I rolled my eyes. Oh, Yuffie.

I started the car and the radio automatically started blasting music. "Sorry." I said sending Cloud an apologetic look as I turned the music down.

The silence was pretty awkward between us.

"Somebody That I Used To Know" started playing. I sang along to it under my breath. By the time we reached Vincent's apartment Cloud and I were belting out the lyrics to all the songs on the radio.

"You should come in for a few minutes." Cloud said.

I was a little tired but not too terribly sleepy. However, I _did _want to get out of this dress.

"How about I come in for a few minutes and talk to Vincent and if he says it's ok I'll stay the night." I suggested.

Cloud nodded. "Sounds great."

We got out of my car and walked up to Vincent's apartment.

"Vincent?" I called out.

"Tifa? What are you doing here?" he asked, coming out of the living room. He had already changed out of his tux and was in sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"Well, Yuffie and Aerith are sleeping over at other peoples' houses so I was wondering if I could sleep here tonight with you guys." I explained.

"Sure. Do you want some of my clothes to change into?" he asked.

"Actually I think I'm going to go home and get some stuff. Is it ok if I bring Smokey over here?" I asked.

"Of course." He replied.

"Ok, I'll be back in like an hour or so. See you guys soon." I said.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Cloud asked.

I paused. "No I think I'll be fine. I'll call you if there's any trouble."

Cloud just nodded in reply.

I walked out of Vincent's apartment and drove home. I was a little lonely and I wished I'd taken Cloud up on his offer.

I got to the apartment and Smokey greeted me at the door. "Hey cutie!" I said picking him up. "We're going to a sleepover tonight!" I told him.

He blinked his big blue eyes at me and solemnly meowed at me.

I walked to my bedroom and set Smokey down on my bed. Then I rummaged through my closet looking for a duffel bag. I found one and threw an extra set of clothes into it. I changed out of my dress and into a cute pair of light pink striped pajama pants and a long-sleeved shirt.

I went to my bathroom and washed my face and slicked some more deodorant on. I brought my toiletries with me back into my room and threw them haphazardly into my bag.

I slipped on my gray Ugg boots and carried my bag into the kitchen. I took a can of Smokey's food out of one of the cupboards and packed into a side pocket of my bag.

"Smokey! Come here, baby! We're leaving, now." I called out. He trotted out of my room and I saw a few pieces of cat litter on his paws. What a smart little kitty!

I scooped him up and kissed him a few times. He nuzzled my jaw and purred loudly. I carried him out to the car, tucking him against my neck so he wouldn't get cold.

I threw my bag into the passenger seat and gently placed Smokey on my lap. I talked to him as I drove so I wouldn't get lonely.

We reached Vincent's apartment a few minutes later. I entered and couldn't find the boys anywhere.

"Guys?" I called out. No answer. I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone and dialed Cloud's number.

"Ah, Tifa. I was hoping you were here." A familiar voice said.

I whirled around and hid my phone behind my back. I was still holding Smokey so it looked a little suspicious so I took a step back and placed my cell phone on the counter behind me.

"G-Genesis." I stammered. He was standing in the shadow of the doorway so it was difficult to make him out but it was definitely him.

"I know Angeal came to warn you already, but I know something he doesn't. Sephiroth wants _you_. That is his end goal." Genesis said without preamble.

"Why does he want me?" I asked stunned.

"Because of Jenova. You've been hearing her voice haven't you?" Genesis watched me closely as I nodded.

"You're going to be Jenova's host when Sephiroth brings her back." Genesis said bluntly.

"No." I denied immediately. It wasn't possible. I wasn't going to allow it. No way was some weird alien "Mother" creature going to possess me. This was all starting to sound like some lame science fiction novel.

Genesis took a step closer into the light and I could see how horrible he looked.

His hair was almost completely gray, not the beautiful red it had been. His skin was almost the same gray as his hair. He could've almost been a statue except for his bright blue eyes which seemed bluer than ever. The way he held himself made him look like he could barely hold himself up. He was but a shadow of the man I had known.

Smokey hissed and jumped out of my arms and ran away.

"Genesis!" I gasped. "Are you ok?"

A small smile crossed his face. "I'm fine." He said, almost bitterly.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked him. I could see immense sadness in his eyes and it almost broke my heart.

"Well… there is one thing…" he trailed off and looked uncertain.

"What is it? I'll do anything." I told him.

"Anything?" he asked, giving me a strange look.

"Yes." I nodded.

He crossed the space between us and grabbed my shoulders. Before I could pull away, his lips landed on mine. It wasn't exactly a kiss. It was just a touch. Almost like his hand had brushed over mine except it was our lips. Strange, I was suddenly beginning to feel so weak and my vision was starting to tunnel. I could only see the impossibly bright blue of Genesis eyes. Hmm, those eyes reminded me of someone…

"Tifa!" a voice shouted.

Genesis pulled away from me. "Thank you." He whispered and let me go. I was too weak to stand by myself and I started to crumble. Someone caught me before I could fall to the floor.

My eyes fluttered open just enough to see blue eyes that were almost identical to the ones I had just seen. Then the darkness overtook me.

"Tifa! Tifa, wake up!" I said as I gently shook her.

She just lay limply in my arms. She almost looked dead. I would've thought she was except for the pulse pounding in her throat.

"Genesis is gone." Vincent said as he came back into the kitchen.

"I'll kill that bastard the next time I see him." I growled.

I stood up with Tifa in my arms and took her to Vincent's room. I laid her on the bed and tucked her in. Her cat jumped on the bed and walked up to her head.

He sniffed her over and licked her cheek before snuggling up in the curve of her neck.

"What did he do to her, Vincent?" I asked.

"I believe he stole some of her energy to help heal himself. That's why she collapsed. Her body couldn't deal with the stress so it shut itself down to regain its energy." He explained.

Tifa lay peacefully sleeping in Vincent's bed and my heart throbbed for her. I reached out and pushed her hair back from her face. My fingers caressed her cheek for a moment before I noticed they were shaking. I quickly clenched my hand into a fist and got off the bed.

I felt so useless, like I couldn't protect her anymore. She was constantly in danger and there was nothing I could do about it.

I woke up with a horrible headache. I groaned as I sat up and massaged my temples. Ouch.

When my head stopped feeling like someone had beaten it in with a shovel I got out of Vincent's bed. The clock on his night stand said 3:08. I walked out to the living room. Vincent was asleep on his La-Z-Boy, and Cloud was passed out on the couch.

I studied Cloud for a moment. I rarely got the chance so I took the opportunity when I got it. He looked peaceful, all the worry and stress drained off his face. He looked like a little boy. He was just so cute. ^.^

His eyes suddenly flicked open and I felt my breath catch in my throat. His eyes met mine and they widened just a little. He put a finger to his lips and then got off the couch and walked back to Vincent's room with me in tow. He shut the door softly and then turned to look at me.

"What did Genesis say to you?" Cloud asked me, searching my face.

In that moment, I decided not to tell Cloud what Genesis told me. Cloud wouldn't be able to deal with it. He'd go on a rampage or something and Hulk-smash the wall. Yeah I don't think so.

"He asked me for help." I lied. Half truth. Good.

"And you gave it to him." he deadpanned.

"I couldn't just say no, Cloud. Genesis was -is- a friend and I always help out my friends no matter what. He could hardly support himself. He looked even worse than Angeal did. I can't just let one of my friends suffer like that." I argued.

"Genesis betrayed us when he went with Sephiroth." Cloud said.

"So you're calling Angeal a traitor too, because he went to make sure his best friends in the world wouldn't go off and kill themselves?" I asked.

"That's different." Cloud hedged.

"No it's _not_ and you know it." I retorted.

Cloud groaned and pulled me into a hug. He buried his face into my neck. I could feel his hot breath fanning across my neck. I had to suppress the pleasurable shudder that tried to wrack my body.

"Cloud?" I asked uncertainly.

"You have no idea how much you mean to me. I was so worried when I saw Genesis just drop you like he did. I wanted to _kill _him for kissing you too." Cloud said heatedly. Every so often I could feel his lips brush my neck.

"I'm sorry." I breathed. Hm, maybe Cloud's lips on my neck were affecting me a bit more than I thought.

Cloud raised his head from my neck and the cold air that took his place gave me goosebumps.

Cloud's eyes locked with mine. So many emotions passed through them that I couldn't even begin to decipher them all.

He was suddenly leaning closer to me. "I love you. So, so much, Tifa. If anything happened to you I would never forgive myself."

I swallowed past the lump that was suddenly blocking my throat. "Cloud…" I couldn't think of anything else that I wanted to say.

Our lips met and it was the most heart-wrenching kiss I've ever experienced.

We fell back onto the bed. Cloud pulled away for a moment. "I need you, Tifa." he whispered, searching my eyes. I understood what he was trying to ask me.

"Yes." I replied. Cloud started kissing me with fervor this time.

When it was over, Cloud held me in his arms. It had been the best moments of my life. I would never forget it. I was so happy in that moment I couldn't imagine there would ever be a time that I could love Cloud more than I did in that moment.

"I love you, Tifa." he murmured as I was on the edge of sleep.

"I love you, too." I replied and then I drifted off into the best sleep I'd ever had.

What felt like minutes later I was being shaken awake. I tried to snuggle deeper into the covers but Cloud's voice in my ear and the words he uttered had me instantly awake.

"Tifa, you need to wake up _right now_. Sephiroth just launched a full-scale attack on Shinra."

** I'm sorry to this but this is the penultimate chapter. I might possibly do a short epilogue after the next chapter but I don't know. But this particular story is far from over… if that makes any sense. There is still much more that I have planned for the Tifa & Co. However this particular part of the story is drawing to a close. I'll explain more in the next chapter… if you haven't killed me by then lol. **

**Until then, **

** Lil Leif **


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